Hounds of the Galaxies
by Joshua Chung
Summary: "Our life ended when we made our choice. Given the choice to ignore, to synthesize, to control or to destroy. Now, we're no longer bound by the mistakes of our past. If the consequences of our decisions will reflect on the changes we make, then so be it. We'll be there to guide him; after all we're just dogs with numbers in this world."
1. The Hounds Have Been Released

**Author's Note**

Wow, a Mass Effect story? This is actually the first time I'm actually doing something serious. Ok, I'll admit there will be some humor in it, but I swear to you my fellow readers, this story won't be fourth-wall breaking like my other stories. No parodies. No shenanigans. None of that. In fact, I'm actually going to focus this story more heavily than my other stories. Yes, this story will involve other people's original character, but it'll be quite different. I won't accept everyone's character that easily. This is meant to be one of more important projects I'll be working on here in the FFnet.

So why Mass Effect? Why not focus on the Pokémon story or the Yugioh one that I constantly delete and rewrite? It all started when I actually began to watch a random Mass Effect video on youtube. I kept hearing about Mass Effect during my highs school year, and ignored it mostly. I was thinking to myself it was going to be lame like Star Trek. I never taken that franchise seriously. I thought to myself back then that I wouldn't be one of those Star Wars nerds. I instantly labeled Mass Effect as another sci-fi motif bull crap. It took me two whole years to actually give it a shot. My friend, for Halloween, disguised herself as Tali. I didn't know at the time so when I typed up Tali on google. The first thing that popped out was "Tali Romance Mass Effect 2".

That was the day I became a Tali/Shepard fan. Before long I began to watch videos after videos of Mass Effect. Now many of you are wonder, why not just buy the game? I wish I did, but at the time I did not have a driver's licenses, and my parents were adamant of me to quit playing games. So I had to suffer the joys of missing out Mass Effect and watch everything on YouTube. It took me another two years to finally get the Trilogy package and a month to get my XBOX360 back from my friend (who, at the time, was using it to finish the Insanity Challenge). I'm still on the first Mass Effect, but make no mistake, I'm making it one of my goals to finish this arc of a story.

So, what will make my story different than the others? What will make my story pop out in the readers eyes? To be honest, that is for you to decide. I'm starting this story to satisfy my hunger for writing. This drill that's been drilling my head for quite sometimes. This inner voice telling me to "drop that controller and get on that laptop!" I'm actually worried about what everyone will think about this story. I'm worried about what other people will say about this story. I won't lie, I thought that my idea was stupid. That's when my English Professor's voice echoed in my mind.

"Nothing is ever stupid."

He said this when I made connections with a book that we were talking about. I was hesitant to raise my hand and tell him about the connections I made with the book. I thought that my opinion was something small. Something insignificant. Something out of context. I even used Sparknotes to find some back-to-back references to make sure that what I was about to say was not stupid. Instead, he flourished my idea. He made it something big. He made something so simple sound so important for the topic of discussion that we were having.

That's when this connected with the movie that Christopher Nolan wrote, Inception. That everything begins with an idea. The book 1984 began with the idea of what would happen if we lived in a dystopian society where totalitarianism reigned over us. Newton formulated his idea, the theory of gravity, when an apple hit him on the head. This idea to write a Mass Effect story was born when I opened up a New Game on the title screen.

If anything, I have to thank my English Professor for giving me the courage to become more confident to accept the ideas that formulate inside my head. I need to realize that sometimes my ideas will flop. They're not perfect, but nevertheless, still something that has potential to become great. I hope I can reflect that level of enthusiasm here on this story and beyond.

* * *

As Shepard slowly made way to the Power Conduit, he remembered a scene from a book. From his childhood, he didn't do much but read. Both his parents served in the Alliance military, and because of that his family were always moving from one station to another during most of his childhood life. There wasn't much to do at the time, and at his age most of the places were off-limits to him. Make no mistake, that did not deter him from becoming a Space Marine, but he wasn't the usual army brats. Instead his mother would bring him books after books to keep himself busy. His favorite, to this day, was Life of Pi.

Limping his way to the core the scene played on in his head. The scene was where Pi's father fed a live goat to a caged tiger to teach him and his brother, Ravi, about the danger posed by wild animals. However during that chapter, where the finale kicks in the zoo, Pi's father asked the crowd what are the most dangerous creature alive. It was a show. The curtain covered this so called "dangerous" creature, and everyone was screaming one animal after another. Finally the father pulled the curtain, and what was behind it? A mirror. A reflection. On top of that was a sign, "the most dangerous animal alive".

What was reflecting off the mirror were themselves.

Raising his modified Paladin up in the air, Shepard fired. Bang. Bang. Bang.

At the time. He didn't understand the message. How were we the most dangerous? How about the Krogan's and their war-like lifestyle? What of the Asari's and their awesome Biotic powers? What of the Turians and their militaristic and disciplined culture? Of course, he needed to remember that this book was written almost a hundred years ago. However the message quickly sunk in after he thought about it. Humanity, the definition itself, that's what makes us the most dangerous creatures of the planet. What makes us "human", human nature. The power of choice.

Shepard held the butt of the gun with his other hand as he continued to fire at the conduit. Flames burst from the wirings of the conduit, finger still pulling on the trigger. This is what makes humans so dangerous. He could have chosen to spare all Synthetic life, he could have chosen to move the Reapers away from the battlefield, he could have chosen to not do anything. Instead he chose to finish it all. This is what he chosen to do. He has chosen to crush all synthetic life form. He decided to make Legion's sacrifice in vain and shut down every single Geth. He decided to destroy EDI.

Shepard has chosen to save, to guard, to herd his sheep safely from the wolves; he has chosen to do so at the cost of his life. That was his decision and his alone.

As he continue to fire off round after rounds, images of those that were sacrificed began to flash in his head.

_Jenkins..._

Bang.

_Kaidan..._

Bang.

_Mordin..._

Bang.

_Thane..._

Bang.

_Legion..._

Bang.

_Anderson..._

Bang.

With one last shot, the conduit finally exploded. Sea of flames crashed down onto Shepard as he shielded himself from the blast. He first felt heat. An unbearable heat that consumed his whole body. Then pain. His nerve fibers shocked into his brain. Screaming at his sensory lobes that the pain he's experiencing is unbearable. Then he was enraptured. The flames seared his skin, yet it felt so good. It felt refreshing. It felt amazing. Then nothing. There was peace. There was nothing else to feel. There was...

...no. There was something else. An anchor that weighed down his mind, his soul, his heart. Something that lingered in his body. It's not regret. He felt it plenty of times. This was nothing close to remorse. No it was something else entirely. It was _pulling_ him. Tugging him. Something _latched_ onto him, and was dragging him away...

_That's five..._

* * *

**From the Company That Created Dragon Age and Star Wars The Old Republic  
From the Author that Created Shameless Amount of Incomplete Parodies  
Joshua Y Chung Presents  
A Fan-Based Story**

**Hounds of the Galaxies**

* * *

"The Arcturus Prime relay is in range," Shepard could hear Joker's voice throughout the intercom as he briskly past by Dr. Chakwas with a nod. Cpl. Jenkins politely moved to the left as he respectfully greeted Shepard with his commanding title. "Initiating transmission sequence." That means Normandy would have pass Neptune by now. Quickly checking Navigator Pressly's screen proves to be the case; of course he did this while walking.

"Calculating mass transit and destination." meaning they're almost close to the Kuiper Belt and close to the Mass Relay. Better get to the cockpit soon, or else he might just miss out on the show. "The relay is hot, acquiring approach vector."

Shepard briskly made his way to the cockpit. Nobody on the ship was new; this ship was operated by veterans that we're with Anderson and the First Fleet before stationed onto the Normandy. Some say it was because of a "sorry" for the First Contact War, others say it's a joint project that both human and Turians worked on to show peace with one another; in the end, this ship was the latest to be operated by the Alliance. The SSV Normandy is operating on state-of-the-art technology.

The Turian's aren't the best military force for nothing.

"All station secure for transit."

When Shepard made it to the cockpit, he descried a turian standing behind both the pilot and Kaiden Alenko, who was sitting in the seat next to Jeff Moreau. "The board is green. Approach run has begun." Jeff announced through the intercom as Shepard looked out the cockpit's window and saw an image similar to a large tuning fork.

The Mass Relay.

Shepard, and the three other occupants in the room, watched as the Normandy approached the object while the Relay's axis turrets kept spinning at a counter-clockwise motion surrounding a bright blue glow in its core. It's not the first time Shepard had seen the Mass Relay, but no matter how many time he seen it, it always takes his breath away to see such a colossal device in front of him. This device, this _thing_ has so much power, it allows them to travel to different part of the Milky Way, different part of the nebulas, different part of the galactic system.

And yet, the design looks so...simple.

"Buckle up ladies and gentleman. We're hitting the relay. In Three. Two. One." Suddenly a blue stream emulating from the Relay's core danced around the Normandy's hull. With a defining **BOOM**, the Normandy was nothing more than a blue streak across space and possibly time.

Jeff "the Joker" Moreau began compiling the numbers of their latest jump into space, as the turian standing behind him observed over his shoulders. The turian naturally made the human crewmembers nervous, especially when this turian was in all accounts a Spectre. Short for **Spec**ial **T**atics and **Re**connaissance, are agents entrusted with unlimited authority by the Council. They're, in short term, judge jury and executioner; and by galactic law, they are allowed to do whatever it is necessary to protect galactic space from harm, even if it means to blow up a planet or two. The last thing anyone wants in front of their doorsteps is a Spectre; and a Turian Spectre on a human vessel is asking a fuse to be lit.

Shepard didn't get his name yet, but he saw the turian colonial face tattoo. It was white and covered mostly his face. For some reason it is customary for turians to place some ink on their faces to identify the ethnicity among their own species.

"Thrusters, check. Navigation, check. Internal emissions engaged. All systems online. Drift, under 1500 K." Joker breathed out with a grin. "1500 is good." the Spectre nodded, "Your captain will be pleased." with that, he turned around and escaped out of the cockpit. As soon as it was safe to speak, Jeff said quietly to Alenko, "I hate that guy."

Shepard bit his lips to refrain from laughing outloud.

"What's the problem?" Kaidan asked, almost regretting on what he was about to receive.

"1500 drift isn't good, it's _**amazing**_! It's like hitting a elcor between the eyes from orbit with a hanar; and trust me, trying to hit them eyes of the elcor is a pain in the ass." Joker made a disgusted sound at the back of his throat. "And I don't like the way he's been looking over all our shoulders non-stop, either. Something's up."

Alenko sat in the right-hand couch, with a half-dozen displays circling his hands. His concentration didn't waver from his work. "He gave you a compliment, so he has some nefarious agenda?"

"It wasn't a compliment," Joker protested. "It just doesn't feel right. Why is he here? This mission is boring. We're inside Alliance space, the ship passed all the ground tests with flying colors, and it's just a shakedown for the rest of the hardware. The absolute most exciting thing that could happen is we lose power or something and drift out here all of half a day before the Alliance scrambles a rescue."

A chuckle escaped from Shepard's lips while Luitenant Kaidan shook his head, "Unbelievable, I'm starting to wonder if that head of yours is big not because of the Space Academy but because of your ego."

"Hey! FYI, chicks _digs_ the giant bobble head that's me." Joker joked. "Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him on board. Call me paranoid."

"You're paranoid." Kaidan responded without a second pause.

"I was being rhetorical." Joker muttered under his breath.

"The Council helped fund this project. They have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment." The pilot glanced over at Kaiden for a moment and snorts. "Investment, my ass. No offense Kaidan, but only an idiot believes _that_ as the official story."

Joker swiveled in his chair. "What do you think, Commander? There's more to this mission, right?"

As much as Kaidan was trying to see the rational for having the Spectre on board, Shepard couldn't help but to agree with Joker on this one. They don't send Spectres on shakedown runs. If that was the case, then they would have just sent Nihlus alone and not a whole team.

"You're overreacting." Shepard began, "but Joker's got a point. Out of anyone they could have sent us, they sent a Spectre. They could have sent an engineer who helped on the project or someone else, but instead they send someone from their special forces. It's almost like there's something they know that we don't that needs extra firepower."

"Exactly," Joker said, "Meaning there is probably more going on here that what the Captain's letting on!"

"If there's something more going on here," Kaidan gazed at the beauty of the Arcturus Prime system, "then what are we doing here? I mean-"

"_Joker, Status Report!_" Anderson's voice came through the Comm, cutting their conversation short. "Just cleared the Mass Relay Captain," Joker professionally replied back, quickly getting back to work. "Stealth Systems engaged, everything looks good so far."

"_Good._" Anderson said, "_Try to find a Comm Buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports sent to alliance Brass before we reach Eden Prime._"

"Aye aye, Captain." Joker said, "Best brace yourself, sir. I think Nihilus is on his way down."

"..._He's already here, Lieutenant._" Anderson said with a lower toned voice. Kaiden's shoulder shook, and Shepard's mouth twitched to a small smirk while Joker just shook his head. "Sonuva..."

"_Also, tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the Comm Room for a debriefing._"

"Did you get that, Commander?" Jeff asked, as Shepard glanced down at Joker with a worried expression. "He sounds angry." Shepard began. "Something must have gone wrong with the mission."

Jeff immediately scoffed at the idea. "Captain always sound like that when he's talking to me."

Kaiden didn't bother holding his laughter any longer. "I can't possibly imagine why."

"Up yours."

* * *

Shepard was broken out of his train of thought as he passed the galaxy map and spotted two people standing near the door to the CIC chatting. "I'm telling you doc, you're gonna love it. It's absolutely beautiful, they call it _Eden_ Prime for a reason," a man in work clothes and a combat vest, explained excitedly to a woman with silver hair and white medical suit. "I understand that you're excited to see your home Jenkins but we're only going to be there for only a week," Dr. Chakwas chortled with amusement.

"Oh I know, but a week on Eden Prime is a week that you're never going to forget. How come you've never been there before doc? You've traveled almost all systems of the galaxy during the First Contact War, and while you were hopping around the galaxy you never went there?"

"That's an over-exaggeration," She shook her head, "I only traveled in the Earth Alliance and some parts of the Inner Council Space. Besides Eden Prime is a relatively peaceful and prosperous place. I haven't gone there before because no one there needed my help."

"Oh. Yeah, when you put it like that I'm glad that you never went there...wait I didn't mean it like that-"

The woman laughed. "It's quite all right Jenkins, I know what you mean."

"Dr. Chakwas, Cpl. Jenkins," Shepard interjected politely, stopping in front of them and prompting both of them to turn and face him (Jenkins saluted).

"Captain, I didn't see you there," Chakwas said. "Hey Cap, is it really true that we've got a Spectre on board?" Jenkins asked.

"Yeah, he's going to come with us during the shakedown."

"Wow. They're really going all out aren't they? I know they don't really like us but...a Spectre? You think that we would be enough. What? Do they think that we're going to try and ambush them at the camp or something?"

"I don't know Jenkins, but everyone's worried about Eden Prime and that someone is going to try something, so just make sure that you're ready for anything. Weapons loaded and sharpened. Including that museum piece that you have there."

"Hey, this thing has saved my rear more times than I can remember," Jenkins said, grabbing the army trench knife at his side.

"That may be true but I just want you to remember that you've also got a gun and I'd prefer it if you stuck to it if you could."

"I'm not stupid enough to charge people with this. It's pretty much our equivalent of a combat knife. Last resort and CQC only. I have to admit I'm not that great with it but I at least know how to use it without killing myself."

"Well I'm glad you know what you're talking about," Shepard said, smiling slightly, "stay safe Jenkins. You may be a little green now but I know you have a lot of potential and one day you'll tap into it. I'm looking forward to that day."

"Really?" Jenkins said, sounding excited. "Wow I...thanks commander."

Shepard nodded at the young greenhorn. "The captain's waiting for me."

* * *

The comm room was state of the art design, as befit a ship intended to specialize in infiltration and reconnaissance. Aside from the obvious- high quality displays and audio, multiple channels and terminals- there were the tech that weren't known throughout the galaxy, encryptions so bleeding-edge half the protocol book still had editorial notes from the coders. The communications system on the Normandy could get a hook in a comm buoy half a system away, and deliver that signal straight back to Earth if necessary, on a beam so tight Shepard bet the whole ship against its interception.

When the commander walked in, Nihlus was using all that brilliant tech to screen a commercial tourist vid of Eden Prime.

"Planning a holiday?" Shepard asked dryly. "Ah, Commander." The spectre turned and clasped his hands- claws?- behind his back. He was wearing his hard suit, as he had the entire trip, despite the discomfort. "I was hoping to speak with you privately."

"Regarding?" He folded his arms and leaned back against the terminal rail.

"This world of yours, Eden Prime." the Turian gestured at the vid. "Lovely, isn't it?"

"Wouldn't know, never been there." He tilted his head. "What's this about?"

"Like every race, humanity is of limited resources. Yet you pour so many of yours into this jewel of a garden world, this colony, right on the border of Council space, with pirates, slavers, mercenaries, and worse just waiting to spill over from the Terminus the moment you let down your guard." His mandibles flared.

Shepard was no expert in turian body language, but he sensed displeasure. "What do you care? It's an Alliance territory."

"Your aptly-named Alliance is still young. Humanity is young. You're still used to thinking in terms of disparate nations, not as one people, of intertwined concerns." Nihlus paced before the holo stage. "This is why you don't have a good foothold on the galactic stage. And you have no idea of the true dangers the galaxy can present. None."

Shepard's eyes began to narrow in line at Nilhus. "Are you trying to scare me, Spectre?"

"Enough." Shepard drew himself to attention automatically as Anderson entered the room. "I think it's time we told the commander what's really going on."

"Indeed." Nihlus turned to him. "This is not a simple shakedown run, commander."

"Why am I not surprised?" Shepard muttered under his breath. He glanced at Anderson. "I assume there is a good reason I wasn't informed earlier, Sir."

"This came straight from the top. Strictly need-to-know. We couldn't chance an information leak." He paused. "Scientists on Eden Prime have unearthed a Prothean artifact. Our job is to go in, quick and quiet, and retrieve it for further study on the Citadel."

Shepard took a moment to absorb that. There wasn't a human alive who didn't appreciate the magnitude of how the Prothean archives on Mars changed the course of their race. Other than the relays, they'd found no other technological remnants in forty years. "Protheans? I thought they disappeared fifty thousand years ago. What are the odds the thing still even works?"

"Right now, it appears to be intact." Anderson was quite serious. "Shepard, this is big. What if this time it's not just ship technology, but something even more dangerous, like a weapons cache? We can't risk it falling into the wrong hands."

Shepard considered Nihlus' concerns in a new light. If Eden Prime was an old Prothean colony, it was uncomfortably close to Terminus territory. Suddenly, he was worried too. "Sir, why are we bringing it to the Citadel? This is a human colony, a human ship. Is it really a good idea to make this information so public?"

"We need to spread a little goodwill among the other races, and the sanctions for concealing Prothean technology are among the harshest in the galaxy." Anderson's expression was severe. Then he admitted, "And we'll need their help to crack its secrets. They have more expertise with this kind of scientific work."

"This goes beyond human concerns, Shepard, regardless of the need for secrecy. That's why we want to extract it with a stealth ship." Nihlus tossed Anderson a significant look that left him puzzled.

Anderson cleared his throat. "But this so-called beacon isn't the only reason Nihlus is here. He's come to observe you."

"I guess that explains why I've been bumping into him every time I turn around." Shepard fiddled with his thumbs behind his back. "Why?"

"We've been petitioning the Council for years now to inaugurate a human spectre. Nihlus has put your name forward. They've been watching you for some time."

"Nihlus put my name forward? Why would a turian care about a human presence in the spectres?" His surprise was obvious. Shepard didn't have a knee-jerk reaction of distrust for turians like Pressly. He knew they were just people, like anyone else, good, bad, and indifferent, but the hierarchy wasn't exactly a friend of the Alliance, either. Just like the Alliance still remembered the affront to their sovereignty, the turians recalled the staggering reparations they were ordered to pay when the asari brokered peace, for what in their eyes was simply enforcing galactic law.

"I don't care about species representation." Nihlus was frank. "I do care about the defense of the galaxy. People who possess the skills required of a spectre are rare in any species, and I suspect you may be among them. There's too much work to ignore any candidate. I care if you can do the job."

"He will observe your next several missions and forward his recommendation to the Council." Anderson made it sound like a done deal.

Shepard's mind was racing. This was the last thing he'd expected, and he found himself floundering a bit. "I assume this is good for the Alliance, sir?"

"Very." Anderson watched Shepard closely.

There were a dozen questions that immediately sprang to mind. Was it even possible to be both Alliance and a spectre? Wouldn't that be a conflict of interest? He signed up to defend humans, human space, against any and all threats, and moreover He liked being enlisted. At the same time, the offer was alluring, in the same way as ICT before he understood what that really meant. It was a chance to be recognized as one of the best of the best. Shepard was no more immune to that than the next soldier. And god knew he chaffed at the restrictions placed on him, sometimes.

In the end, it didn't matter. He'd ceded a portion of control of his life when he signed up, and a great deal more when he was promoted to N7. This was nothing new. Shepard saluted smartly. "I'll do my best, sir."

"Good." He sounded pleased. "We should be making our final approach soo-"

"Captain." Joker's voice filled the room. "I just received a transmission from the surface. I think you need to see this."

"Put it up on the screen."

What filled the room next was nothing less than hell.

* * *

Nihlus checked the last of his weaponry while Anderson explained the plan. "Nihlus will scout ahead and relay information back to your team, Shepard. Your mission is to assess the situation on the ground and extract the beacon."

"Survivors, sir?" Alenko asked from behind his right shoulder.

"Survivors are secondary to recovering this artifact. We can't allow it to fall into enemy hands."

Shepard saluted. "Understood, sir."

Joker dropped her squad away from the combat zone, so as not to draw unwanted attention. Back here it was hard to remember there was any fighting at all. The only sight for miles was rocky green pasture, dotted with large, jellyfish-like gas bag creatures. Even the gunfire was too distant to hear.

At least, until he turned around, and saw the devastation below the ridge where they stood, spreading out in waves towards the heart of the colony. The network of valleys looked like bloody scars running through the land. Smoke occulted much of the landscape, glowing faintly from the fires beneath as the fields burned, the whole agrarian economy of Eden Prime disappearing before her eyes beneath an ochre sky. A stiff breeze blew the ash up into her lungs, choking her.

"Ship perimeter secure." Alenko called, turning as Shepard coughed out the smoke. The luitenant's eyes went wide, and he breathed, almost to himself, "What happened here?"

Shepard gave himself a little shake to stop staring and deliberately turned his back on the scene. "We've got a hike ahead of us. Move out."

Jenkins was still looking blankly out over the destruction. Shepard touched Jenkins' shoulder briefly, grounding the corporal, and he turned away from the vista with a look of determination. Shepard recalled belatedly that Eden Prime was Jenkins' home world, but perhaps it was for the best. Nobody would fight harder for it.

She pressed the com link buried in his ear. "Nihlus. We're in."

"Good." The line crackled with static. "I'll scout ahead and meet you at the dig site."

"Roger that. Shepard out."

Eden Prime for all its stature only had one colonial site. Various missions and corporations had scouted locations for additional settlements, but so far no money had come through. Instead, the primary settlement sprawled, after thirty years covering tens of thousands of acres, counting the farmland. That centralization made the colony only more vulnerable. Shepard still could not imagine who would have the audacity to wage an attack on this scale with no warning whatsoever. His thoughts naturally ran to the batarians, but this had none of the hallmarks of their style of combat. The invading ship from the vid message, if that was what it was, was certainly not of the Hegemony.

They'd been walking for fifteen minutes when he heard the first shots and signaled a stop to their advance. Peering around an outcrop, Shepard couldn't make out the enemy, but signaled they should proceed with caution. The three of them picked their way down into the valley from cover to cover, tensed, weapons drawn, and Shepard could tell already that Jenkins was struggling a bit. His movements were sloppy, and his crouches left the top of his head exposed. Typical kid stuff. These guys came out of basic without ever having experienced real fighting, or real fear, and they just didn't watch themselves like they should.

Shepard's attention was torn between scouting ahead with his eyes and constructing the ear-stinging lecture Jenkins badly needed once the immediate danger was past. His nose twitched at another gust of smoke hit them. Shepard knew he'd heard gunfire. But where the hell was the shooter?

Then a flash of metal caught her eye, and before she could do more than open his mouth, Jenkins shuffled out of cover and was halfway to his new location before he was -

In a flash, an orange like tech shot out from the south as it quickly flew past Jenkins' and the field around them. Shepard watched dumbly as the brightly colored projectile struck the Recon Drone with full force. Sending it crashing onto the second drone before combusting into flames. The third still tried to hail down Jenkins, but Shepard threw his gun over the top of the nearest boulder, braced it against the stone, peered down the sight, and pulled the trigger in one fluid motion. Over the years he'd learned to all but do surgery with his assault rifle, and it paid off. By the time the turret and its companion fell, Jenkins was on the ground breathing heavily.

Eyes dialating, the corporal slowly turned his head to his commanding officer, visibly shaken. Shepard took a deep breath, and blew it back out- before quickly turning around. Assault rifle aimed in the trees. Peering through his scope, Shepard shot a warning fire in the woods. Alenko shot a glance at his commander. They weren't alone.

After a moment, Kaidan was able to speak, "Commander, we need to finish the mission."

Shepard slightly lowered his gun to squat beside the corporal, his face invisible to her at this angle. He touched his shoulder lightly. "You alright Jenkins?"

"I-I thought I was a goner at that second..."

"I know it's a lot to take in," Shepard began, "But you have to get up, like Lt. Alenko said, we need to keep going."

"I-" He glanced again at the fallen Recon Drones that laid in front of him, jaw clenched, then back at Shepard. "Right. Yes, sir."

Shepard watched him a few seconds more, to be sure he'd hold together, but if anything he seemed more resolute. That was good. It was the only way grief, or regret, served any purpose on a battlefield. They picked up their gear and set off again towards the colony, leaving behind whatever was behind them...

If Shepard would have stayed for another few seconds, he would have seen something suddenly shimmer into existence. The figure was definitely male, from his armor and build. His face masked with dark ballistic-mesh fabric with ceramic plating. Green optic glared through the shadows of the wood as the figure stared at the squad of trio. Grey colored plating which complements his surroundings, the Armax Arsenal logo faded with grey, as the figure manually extracted the termal clip from his sniper rifle before chambering a new one. Gazing through the scope, he observed Jenkins...

The figure finally lowered his sniper rifle before moving towards his omni tool. The back of his left hand illuminating "II" as he activated his Tactical Cloak. A second later, he shimmered away. Invisible to the naked eye, the cloaked figure followed the three behind.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I think my first Mass Effect Story is doing alright so far. Now for those who are interested in sending their OC, review me or PM me about your interest, I'll PM you the skeleton. I hope I can make a trilogy out of this, and I hope I can make it as original as it can get. So fingers crossed.

Wish me luck.


	2. The First Anomaly

**Author's Note**

I finally finished the Mass Effect Trilogy! Boy did I cry a lot doing the playthrough. The Virmire scene, I sacrificed Kaidan because I was in the middle of Romancing Ashley, only to be stabbed in the back in ME2. Speaking of ME2, my god I was bawling. Thane and Kolyat scene. I'm sorry this is suppose to be the Author's note and here I am rambling.

Now a lot of people are wondering if the Infiltrator is mine, and the answer is no. The Infiltrator isn't owned by anyone. That one is just disguised ambiguously so that whoever submits an Infiltrator for this story can send me their Infiltrator OC. The Infiltrator was made to make the first change in the ME universe. Oh and for those who are going to say stuff about what the major changes that'll happen because this is similar to a "time travel" fiction, well you guys will have to find out for yourself. Because you have no idea how much I'll deviate away from the main plot.

Now let's thank a few people. I want to start off thanking the one hundred readers that gave the first chapter a shot of chance. I also want to thank **FeZeTh13** and **Shotgun Steve **for their contribution to the story. I also want to thank the Bioware team for making the Mass Effect series, without them I wouldn't even thought of playing or paying attention to any of the SciFi genre.

There are more people to thank, but thats for another time.

* * *

"What were those things?" Jenkins asked as he checked his shields for the third time, there was no way he was going to wander off like that again without checking his shields. "They didn't look much like Alliance recon drones."

"Call me crazy," Alenko began, "But I think they might've been geth." That got a reaction for Jenkins, who finally stopped tinkering with his shield to share a moment of disbelief towards Lt. Kaidan.

"That's crazy..." He paused, "Sir." Jenkins added sheepishly before continuing with his earlier proclamation, "Nobody've seen geth in, what, three hundred years?"

"I took a seminar on quarian technology years ago." Kaidan waved off the formality, "They looked an awful lot like the drones used during their war. It's hard to say for certain from the pieces."

"Where there's geth drones, there'll be actual geth," Shepard surmised grimly. "If you're right we'll find out soon enough."

"Commander, could that insect ship thing be geth?" Jenkins pondered. Shepard had to stop to actually think for an answer to the question.

"Don't know. I've never seen anything like that in my life."

At that point, Nihlus' voice crackled over the com. "I'm finding a lot of bodies here, Commander. Something hit the colony hard, right at the heart of it."

That quieted any chatter. Not long after, the distinctive rattle of assault rifle fire echoed from up ahead. They picked up the pace.

As they crested the ridge, they saw a marine running straight towards them, still too far to make out more than a uniform. Behind her, two lanky, almost graceful machine creatures with long fingers and narrow heads were loading a moaning human onto some kind of device.

"Oh man..." Jenkins whispered as everyone's eyes went round when the Geth triggered it, sending the man up a fifteen-foot tall impaling spike. His tortured scream, as he died, was the stuff of horror movies- too unearthly and exaggerated to possibly be real.

Training took over in place of shock. Shepard dove for cover and brought his sights on the machines. Maybe Alenko was right, and they were geth- she sure didn't know of any other rogue AI wandering the galaxy. The unidentified marine stumbled as she ran.

In a flash, Shepard brought out his assault rifle, aimed at the Geth. "Go! We got you! Alenko, Singularity! Jenkins, with me! We're gonna blast em!"

Alenko's hand shot forward, and the bodies helplessly flew in the air, where Shepard's and Jenkins' gun turned them into shrapnel and grease. Two more drones, perhaps attracted by the noise, dropped in behind the fleeing woman and planted two shots squarely into her back in a burst of scattered blue light as her shield absorbed the impact. For a second Shepard thought they were about to lose the soldier, but the marine was quicker, throwing herself onto her back and returning fire. The drones were no match for the three of them.

The woman struggled to stand and managed to get off a weak salute as Shepard and Alenko approached, Jenkins behind making sure no drones or troopers were hiding to snipe them off. The marine took in their insignia. "Are you in charge, sir?"

Shepard looked the marine over. The woman's brown eyes were steady, but her hands shook around her gun. "I'm Commander Shepard, special forces. Who are you?"

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212, sir, and boy am I glad to see you, if you don't mind me saying." Williams glanced over her shoulder, as if expecting more geth at any time, and drummed her fingers against the barrel of the rifle. Her words came at a staccato pace.

"Are you injured?" Shepard kept his tone soft. Williams had clearly been through something nightmarish. Harsh demands would only rattle her, press her into doing something regretful. Jenkins finally lowered his Avenger, satisfied that there aren't anymore drones to deal with.

"No sir. Not me."

Suddenly it snapped into place. "You're the one from the transmission. You shoved the cameraman to the ground."

"I didn't think anyone would pick that up. He didn't make it."

"Where's the rest of your unit?" Shepard didn't know why he was asking. He knew that look from the inside out_. _

_God damn Akuze._

Williams shook her head, ashen-faced. "It's just me now, sir."

"This isn't your fault. You did exactly what you were supposed to." As if that ever mattered. The girl looked like she was holding up well enough for some questions. It would hit her later, in a great wave that threatened to drown her, but for now...

"I need you to tell me everything you can remember about the attack."

"Yes, sir." Williams straightened, holding her head a little higher. "We came in a few days ago to provide protection for the scientists. They found something huge. I heard one of them say it could be the greatest discovery in the last thirty years, since they found all that Prothean stuff on Mars."

"Where did the geth come from?" Jenkins couldn't help but to ask.

"Is that what those machines are?" Ashley paled beneath the bravado. "We were deployed to secure the site as soon as they figured out what they were dealing with. Some people said they saw some kind of ship. All I know is suddenly those things were swarming our camp. We did the best we could, but… All the scientists are probably dead, too."

She trailed off. Her eyes went out of focus and drifted somewhere over Shepard's left shoulder.

"Stay focused, marine." Shepard let a little sharpness into his voice, and Williams' face snapped back to hers. "What can you tell me about the beacon? The thing the scientists were digging up?"

"Right." She jerked a thumb back towards the destroyed geth. "It was really tall, and kind of… sweeping? Green. I don't know. It didn't seem to do much. They were keeping it at the dig site down the hill."

Shepard nodded. "Take us there."

"Yes, sir." Williams checked her gun and smiled with absolutely no humor. "Time for some payback."

Shepard let that one go- if that's whatever kept Williams on her feet then it'll be that, and hell, they were just machines. Whatever the chief wanted to do with them couldn't be wrong. "Move out."

* * *

The artificial crater of the archaeological dig was shrouded in ramps, mountings, cables, energy generators, and everything else a group of scientists might need to investigate an exceptionally valuable monolith. It was also swarming with geth. Shepard moved ahead himself this time. There was no need to have a repeat of Akuze. He lost his squad to the Thresher Maw, and today he almost lost Jenkins. There was no way he was allowing anyone die here. If they were spotted, he damn well wanted to be between their line of fire and the rest of his team, because he knew how to take it.

"Man," Kaidan admired, "For a gunnery chief, she sure knows how to move."

Kaidan made a point. From what Shepard could tell, Williams understood how to move- not a rookie, then. She didn't make a racket and there were no signs of hesitation or halting. And they'd passed several broken drones on the way. How the hell a woman with enough stamina and courage to survive that kind of assault was stuck as a gunnery chief defied speculation, to Shepard's way of thinking. Maybe there was something in her service record that couldn't be ignored.

They methodically gunned down the geth, working their way to the center of the dig, where they found… nothing. Williams stared in disbelief. "It was right here."

"Somebody moved it," Alenko glanced at her. "The geth? Or one of ours?"

_Nothing's ever simple, _Shepard thought, not without a touch of frustration. "Where would they have taken it?"

Almost on cue, the comm lit up again with Nihlus' grating turian voice. "The spaceport's up ahead. I'm going to check it out. Meet you there."

Their eyes met, each reflecting the same thought. Shepard cursed. "They're trying to get it off-world."

"We have to stop them." Jenkins started searching for a way up out of the dig.

Williams was confused. "Why would the geth want a Prothean beacon?"

"We can ask those questions later. Right now, we make for the spaceport." Shepard jerked his chin at Williams. "Do you know the way?"

The chief nodded, and began walking.

Just as soon as they cleared the top of the dig site, they saw the sheds serving as temporary housing and field laboratories for the scientists. There weren't any bodies, which Shepard found strange. It was obvious a fight happened here. What were the geth doing with the corpses? Spiking them? What was the point?

Jenkins voiced the question, and Alenko shrugged. "Basic psychological warfare, right?"

"No." Williams hissed. "The geth aren't content with just killing us. They want us to suffer."

Kaidan and Shepard exchanged a look. It was clear Williams was clinging to stability by the skin of her teeth, but they couldn't leave her by herself, things were too hot for an evac, and there was nothing they could say or do to make it easier.

The first shed was unlocked, and held nothing of interest. It didn't look abandoned in any haste. Books were still on shelves, terminals neatly locked down. There was dark movement behind the tinted windows of the second shed. Jenkins, to Shepard's and Kaidan's surprise, hacked through the lock easily, and they stepped in with guns drawn and sighted, only to find five very frightened people in lab coats.

"Oh, thank god, you're human," gushed the woman, with a relief that couldn't be forged. She was the older of the five. The man squirmed beside her with wild eyes and little acknowledgement, twitching faintly. Two of the lab tech were siting in the corner, while the last one jumped out of bed, in fright.

Williams blinked. "You're Dr. Warren. The head of the science team."

"Yes." Warren nodded, then shuddered, elaborately. "When the attack came, we were all shellshocked. It was terrible, everyone was dying and-"

The man mumbled something, drawing an apprehensive glance from the doctor. She added lamely, "And this is my assistant, Manuel."

"The age of humans is ended in fire and darkness," Manuel intoned, suddenly meeting Shepard's eyes. He saw nothing of sanity in their depths. He mumbled again and looked away.

"Wait," Jenkins looked at the group. "If you guys were frozen in drop dead fear, how the hell did you guys get in here then?"

"W-well..."

* * *

_"Get up!" he ordered. Dr. Warren and the others looked petrified at his presence. Who wouldn't? His face was masked and the green tinted optic lens weren't helping the situation. "Please don't hurt us!"_

_Even though he was masked, Dr. Warren could see that he bit back a curse. Suddenly they heard gun fire as the man quickly ushered the group to a building "Inside that room! Hurry! Before they come!" The workers saw the room he was pointing at and made a beeline inside. They moment the last one entered, he closed and locked the door._

_"There will be a group of three arriving here, they'll get you to safety."_

* * *

"...after a while, you four came along."

Something didn't add up, who was this person that rescued them, how did he know that there were people going to come after them- wait...did he say three?

Soon the squad caught on what the problem was. Nilhus went ahead to scout on. They recruited Ashley during mid-way. The attack was happening before then. Him, Jenkins and Kaidan... that made three. Did that person knew that they were coming?

His squad shifted behind him, unnerved, but Shepard steeled himself. They can ponder that little mystery later. Right now, there are more important things to focus on. "Dr. Warren, what exactly did you find here?"

"The discovery of a lifetime. Operational prothean technology! I've spent my whole life studying the protheans. It was like a dream…" She trailed off, her gaze drifting to the window and the devastation that lay beyond.

Manuel stirred again, slamming his fist against the glass and making them all jump. "They are coming. The return draws nigh. Soon they will cover the galaxy again and none shall be spared!"

His voice was rising. Not good.

After a pause, Williams continued with the questioning. "Did you see anyone move the beacon?"

"What? We moved it ourselves, this morning, down to the spaceport. We've done all we can in situ-" The scientist that was answering her question gasped. "You don't think that's what these creatures-"

"Could be." Shepard looked back at the open hatch, nervous. "Did you see a turian come by, not long ago?"

"There are no turians on Eden-" the doctor on the bed began to protest, but Manuel raised his gaze to Shepard's and spoke in a tone of awe and fear.

"I saw him," he stated, with the weight of dead certainty. "The prophet. He is their leader. He brought the machines. He will herald their return and grant them passage back to the light."

Her brow furrowed. "You saw a turian?"

"Couldn't be Nihlus," Jenkins remarked, confused. "He was on the ship with us when the invasion began."

Manuel muttered something. Shepard stepped closer, cautiously, reaching out a gentle hand. "Please, I need to kn-"

At that moment, Manuel's eyes rolled back in his head and he opened his mouth, as if to scream. Shepard clocked him in the temple before he even realized what he was doing, acting on pure instinct. Manuel fell to the floor without so much as a sigh.

The scientists sprang back, shocked. "Oh my god!" Dr. Warren vocalized.

Kaidan rubbed his temple, evidently disappointed, but there was no mistaking the slight relaxation throughout the remainder of the group now that Manuel was silent. "That might have been a little extreme, Commander."

"He was going to attract the geth with his antics." Shepard was slightly apologetic, he didn't meant to punch the man. It was just out of instinct that happened. Shaking out his hand, Shepard muttered out "He wasn't in his right mind."

"I gave him some medication. I suppose this will give it some time to kick in." Warren sighed, not entirely appeased, but as relieved as any of them. "Was there anything else, Commander?"

"No. Thank you for your information. You've been very helpful." Shepard paused, "Though we can't help now, I promise you I'll send in an extraction team to take you all back to the Normandy. Until then, stay here and lock the doors."

* * *

They began to find more bodies as they moved closer to the center of the colony, and the spaceport. There still weren't as many as Shepard would have expected from an assault of this magnitude, or from Nihlus' periodic reports. The Spectre's prolonged silence began to worry him. Hostages crossed his mind along with several less pleasant possibilities, but it wasn't until they were within sight of the spaceport that he put it altogether.

"Hold up." Shepard peered forward through the haze. "What's that?"

Williams shuddered. "Jesus..."

Humanoid forms hung limply from several of the tall spikes they'd seen earlier, blood caking the sides and gathering into rusty pools at their base. The scent of iron joined the smoke in the air. Shepard didn't think the victims could truly be called human anymore. Their hair and clothing were gone, along with their genitalia and any recognizable facial features. Their skin, if you wanted to give it that label, was blackened, ashy, shot through with strange blue markings. Mouths were opened in silent screams.

One twitched on its post.

Jenkins' tone reflected everyone's own sudden nausea. "They're- they're still alive?"

Words failed all of them.

"We should…" Kaidan began but stopped. What? Cut them down? Shoot them?

Without warning, the spikes telescoped back into their bases as one and shook loose their cargo. The victims promptly shambled to their feet and turned their empty eyes towards the squad.

"Put them down!" Shepard yelled, bringing his rifle up.

The fight was quick and brutal. Nothing short of total disintegration of their bodies would stop the transformed humans. Thankfully, they seemed to be held together with spit and cobwebs. Shepard discovered quickly that shooting them out at the knees was highly effective. They waited a moment, ready for another wave, scanning the foreground, but that seemed to be all of them.

"I almost wish it had been just brutality," Williams commented, emptily, eyeing the muddled meat of the corpses and the quiescent implements that bled them dry.

Shepard was grim. "The geth are making them into those… things. Those zombies. I've never heard of any technology like this."

The commander felt like they ought to try to disable the spikes, somehow, or kick them over at least, but he couldn't bring himself to approach them. There was a brooding malevolence about the devices, like something out of a legend, that made his skin crawl. Every instinct recoiled against the idea of touching them.

"More sheds." Alenko pointed ahead with his pistol. "Maybe more survivors."

Jenkins shuddered with disgust. "Or maybe more of _them_."

"It's worth checking out." Shepard interjected. "We still don't understand what's happening here."

Shepard advanced cautiously. This whole mission had gone bad. There was some hope still of recovering the beacon, but Eden Prime would never be the same, not for years, not with this kind of destruction. A whole division of marines and god knew how many civilians were dead. The geth were back from behind the veil. How the hell had intel missed this?

They got within ten feet of the hatch when it zipped open and three humans, terrified and weak with relief, spilled out. "Oh, thank god, we thought we were the only ones left!"

"I'm Commander Shepard, with the Alliance." He glanced over the trio. "Who are you?"

"Farmers. We saw that mothership come down, and ran for the sheds. Those machines are killing everyone!"

Funny how such a terrible story could become so monotonous, so quickly. "Tell me about this 'mothership'."

The farmer held his hands wide apart. "It was huge! Black, almost like some kind of squid or something, covered in red lightening. _Red_! It deposited all those machines and parked itself just past the spaceport. It's not far."

"I see." So it was a ship after all. Shepard looked at Alenko. "You said the ship wasn't geth."

"It's not! At least not like anything they've used before. Not that I'm an expert."

"Alright. So we may be dealing with-" Everyone froze as a single pistol shot rang out from the direction of the spaceport, followed by silence. Shepard waited for the return fire but it never came. "That wasn't geth."

The machines weren't using pistols. Their armaments would ring with staccato fire, not single shots.

"We need to go," Alenko said, urgently.

Shepard turned matter-of-factly towards the farmers. "Thank you."

"Wait." One of the men grabbed the other's arm. "Look, they're military, we should tell them about the stuff."

"Stuff?" Shepard turned back. "What 'stuff'? Do you have something to tell me?"

"You just had to go and open your mouth." He didn't look pleased. "It's nothing. Look, we might have agreed to store some stuff in our sheds for a cut of the profits, ok? No harm in that."

"You lying asshole." Ashley was furious. "You weren't coming back here to hide- you were coming to check on your merchandise!"

"Listen, even if you had the best intentions, you're breaking the law." Shepard wasn't going to sugar coat it, but at least he'll be peaceful about it.

"It wasn't like that! I knew there were weapons in the shipment. I thought we could use them to protect ourselves." He unclipped it from his belt, and it obediently unfolded to its full size.

"Listen to me." The man hesitantly looked up, but Shepard was all but angry. He kept up a calm front, "We're risking our necks to save this colony, one of our squad member almost died trying to get here, so we need anything and everything that would help us in our endeavor. Is there anything else in there that can help us out?"

Jenkins could see the man feel conflicted on the manner, he understood why, but Shepard did highlight some good points. Thankfully, in the end, he conceded, "There is one more thing, I was going to sell it after this was all over. But you probably need it more than I do." he handed them various of grenades that were in the shed, something that rose Ashley's ire.

"In your hands, it'd just be giving a weapon to the geth." The man winced, but Ashley didn't soften her tone. "Who's your contact at the depot?"

"I'm not telling you that! I'm not going to get him in trouble! He's not a bad guy, and I'm no snitch!"

"It's the way of life here, Commander. In Eden Prime, everyone's family here." Jenkins explained as Kaidan stepped up with a smile. "Listen...um..."

"Cole." The farmer introduced himself. "Right, Cole." Kaidan continued, "He might have something to do with this whole attack. We need his name, it's important."

"B-But..."

Ashley gave him a glare.

"Alright, fine." Cole murmured, "His name is Powell. Works at the spaceport. If he's still alive." The Commander handed the pistol to Jenkins and gave him a nod. "I have to go, but fortify your shelter until the extraction team gets you out."

"Right." Cole nodded, "Good luck-"

"Wait." One of the farmers stopped. Shepard couldn't help but to groan, they didn't have the time to dilly-dally. "If you meet up with your scout, tell him thank you."

That made him pause. Nilhus stopped to help them out? Looking over at his two male squadmate, Shepard turned around. "Was he a Turian?"

"Turian? No he was human." The farmer pointed at one of the fallen geth beside the hatch. "That geth found us and chased us. We panicked, we couldn't get into our hatch and it was about to shoot us," he explained. "I thought he was going to kill us… then…

* * *

_"Please… Don't shoot. We'll do anything!"_

_The Geth trained it's assault rifle at the trio. Cole took a breath and exhaled, this was it. This was the place where he and his friends were going to die. Not from a stupid disease or old age, but because of this...thing._

_What a way to go-_

_Suddenly a deafening boom rumbled across the landscape of Eden Prime as the Geth dropped dead, while the others ducked down at the sound of the gunshot. Cole stared at the now headless (or bulbless) Geth, flabbergasted. Suddenly a figured shimmered next to him as it pulled him off the ground and pushed him into the hatch._

_ "Get in." _

_Cole was frozen in spot as the figure hustled the other two farmers in before quickly closing the door._

_With a lively melody echoing inside, the hatch was locked by their mysterious savior._

* * *

"We heard more gun fire before we decided to check out if it save. Thats when you guys came into the picture."

Ashley stepped closer to the body. "Right in the eye. This was a very precise shot." She turned to the worker. "And you didn't see the shooter?"

He shook his head. Jenkins curiously stepped up to the body as well and moved the corpse. He whistled appreciatively. "Wow. That **is **a clean shot."

"A perfect headshot with no collateral damage," Kaidan summed up. "Very impressive." His tone suggested that his respect for the mysterious hero went up a few notches.

"Change of plans, we cleared the Geths out on the way here. You should be able to get to Dr. Warren safely," Shepard advised.

The farmers sighed in relief. "No need to convince me."

* * *

The dock was covered in bodies. Too many, apparently, for even the geth's sadistic purposes. Shepard could feel the slickness of their deaths under his boots as it trickled down the stairs in sticky lines, and wished, for the space of a moment, that he had his breather helm to avoid the stench. Smoke, fire, traces of munitions and explosives, machine oil and rocket fumes, mixed with all the very human scents of carnage made for a hell of a cocktail.

One of the corpses belonged to Nihlus. Shepard knelt beside it. "One bullet to the head. Close-range, too. How does that happen to a spectre?"

"Movement, behind the crates." Williams' gun was already aimed. In a flash, Shepard, Jenkins and Alenko joined her.

A shaking man slowly stood, with both hands raised. "Don't shoot! Oh god, please don't shoot me."

"Who are you?" Shepard lowered his gun slightly.

"I work out here at the docks." He licked his lips. "Name's Powell."

Recognition dawned. "You're the farmer's smuggling contact."

"What? No! I mean, sure, maybe. It's not like anyone ever notices when a little goes missing off the top of those big military shipments!"

"You little bastard!" Williams was incensed. "We're out here busting our humps to protect your worthless asses and all you can think about is how to rip us off?!"

"It wasn't like I thought they'd ever have to use them!" He was sweating now, no doubt about it. "Who'd attack Eden Prime?"

Shepard threw out his arm to stop Williams from jumping on the guy, and replied calmly. "Apparently the Geth. Did you manage to see any of the attack?"

"Yeah. Sure. I woke up when that mothership-"

"Wait. You woke up? Didn't you say you were working?" Ashley interrogated to which Powell stuttered out his answer.

"Sometimes I need forty winks to get through a shift, know what I mean? Nobody finds me behind these crates. Not even those machines."

Ashley was incredulous. "So first you tell us you're stealing from the Alliance, and then we find out the only reason you survived the attack is because you're lazy?"

"What was I supposed to do?" Powell shot back angrily. "I don't even have a gun!"

It was hard to argue the point, and this whole op was getting the better of them. Shepard refocused. "Alright. You saw the ship land. What happened next?"

"There was this- sound- I don't know how to describe it. I don't think it was in my ears." The dock worker shivered. "Made my head feel like it was going to split open, like my brain was turning to mush."

Kaidan glanced at the commander. "They were probably trying to jam communications. We haven't gotten any transmissions from the surface since that ship appeared."

Shepard's nod was more confident than he felt. Everyone knew standard electronic communication frequencies didn't overlap human audible range. They could be looking at yet another exotic geth weapon, something to incapacitate targets, maybe make it easier to capture and spike their victims. "So what exactly were you smuggling? Arms? Information?"

He paled. "Look, I never… I'm a citizen of the Alliance, just like you."

Ashley resisted the urge to smack the snot out of him. "I don't steal from my own people. Instead I risk my life protecting them. You're nothing like us."

"Sorry." Powell swallowed, looked between their faces, each equally grim, and coughed. "Look, all I did was take some stuff out of the big shipments, things nobody would miss. I may be a coward but I'm no traitor, ok? Just let me go."

He glared at them sullenly. Shepard ignored it. "Did you see who shot Nihlus?"

"Nihlus? Oh, the turian. Yeah. It was the other turian."

Shepard's brow furrowed. "What other turian?"

"Your guy seemed to think he was a friend. Lowered his guard. Shot him right in the head!"

"Did you catch a name?"

"I think he called him Saren. It's hard to be sure, though. Like I said, I was sleeping." Powell eyed the four nervously, his eyes shifting from gun to gun.

He glanced at Williams, who shrugged. "Never heard of any Saren. Never heard of any turians on Eden Prime before this."

"I'll just be going now," Powell interrupted. "I need to get out of here."

"One last thing- do you know where they took the Prothean artifact they dug up south of here?"

The dock worker jerked his chin towards a tram rail running the length of the spaceport. "We took it to the other platform. It's all arrivals over here, not exports."

Shepard let him go. He slunk off, metaphorical tail between his legs. The dock was abandoned. Parts of it were on fire. Shepard was hardly a stranger to warzones, but each had its own unique kind of horror. This one stank of fear, shock, and panic. He licked his dry lips and raised his eyes up to the platform. "The train's stalled. There's a cargo platform halfway across."

Jenkins moved up to an abandoned terminal and holstered his weapon. "I'll see what I can do."

As he worked, Shepard watched Powell until he couldn't see him anymore through the smoke. _If you ever wanted to know why it's always the good ones who die, it's because war favors weasels._

"I'm done." Jenkins straightened as the platform groaned into motion and began sliding towards their end of the port.

Shepard checked the action on his gun. "Keep an eye out for more of those spikes. We don't want to leave any behind us. Move out."

* * *

They fought their way to a cargo pallet and took it across the way, over a natural valley dividing the port. Nobody spoke at all on the ten minute ride. Whether the silence was out of exhaustion- they'd been on the surface, on high alert in a combat zone, for hours now- or out of shock or even respect for what occurred, he couldn't say.

Shepard spent it checking over his gear. It was a kind of meditation, something he'd done so many times it was almost comforting, and left him free to think. If the beacon was still on Eden Prime, Saren or whoever this other turian was would have it heavily defended. Shepard had only two goals now- get the beacon, if possible, and get his team and the survivors extracted out of here safely. Shepard fervently hoped it wouldn't change, but no four people squad could fight a full-scale invasion alone, and there was zero doubt remaining that was the precise nature of this attack.

"Approaching the station, Commander." Jenkins was already straining his eyes ahead, searching for enemies.

"Very good, corporal." Shepard slapped the heat sink back into the chamber. "Let's turn this place into a flashlight scrapyard."

The fighting started before their platform even came to a complete stop. Shepard hit the dock at a flat run and dived behind a sheet metal guardrail, ducking over the top to provide cover fire as her squad moved into position. The geth weren't mindless, and it took a few exchanges to polish them off. "The bridge! Go!"

Alenko and Williams dashed ahead, up a ramp to traverse the highly exposed area between the rail and the eastern dock before more geth could return. Jenkins followed behind with Shepard coming last, gun clutched to his chest and head tucked down to maximize shield efficiency. The whole time he felt like he had a giant target pasted on his suit.

"What is that?" Williams pointed. Jenkins swore as he crouched next to the cylinder. "It's a bomb. They must be planning to blow the whole station." The timer blinked a host of information. "Looks like it's wired to three other devices, all synced up."

"We've got to shut them down!" Alenko fired at the geth massing at the far end of the station.

Jenkins ripped the front piece off the explosive, exposing the wiring. "Cover me!"

"Jenkins, what the-" Shepard didn't finish as Geth began to rain down from the sides. Shepard began sniping at the geth to force them to hold position, as Jenkins hastily sorted through the tangle of circuitry.

"Good news is commander, this design is very basic. They must have been in a hurry." Jenkins frowned, "The bad news is it's in sequence with the remaining bombs."

"Meaning?"

"There's no way to disable it without starting the timers on its sister munitions."

Great.

"Do it anyway. It's better than letting Saren set them off." Especially if he was going to do it at his leisure and catch them by surprise.

Jenkins nodded and in two seconds he responded back. "Done! We've got to find the other ones ASAP!"

As they ran, Alenko panted, "First hacking through a shed then accessing a terminal and finally disabling a bomb! Where did you learn to be tech savvy?"

"My uncle! He was part of the N7 engineering program! Taught me all the simple things." Despite everything, Shepard grinned. Leave it to Jenkins to say that hacking and bomb disabling was **_simple_**.

"Geth!" Williams called out, crouching against a wall.

They fought through the defense, lighter than Shepard had feared, and there was a collective exhale as Jenkins diffused the final bomb with three minutes to spare. Which was very impressive considering how the timer was set to explode in five and geth were around them. Jenkins mentioned that the bomb had enough ordinance to level the entire spaceport. Saren was playing hardball.

The geth were all either dead or gone, along with the zombies they'd found guarding the beacon. It was something to behold. As tall as three men, it glowed faintly green in the haze and smoke, and was to all appearances undamaged, a small victory against the losses here today. Of Saren, there was no sign, and the insectile ship departed around the same time they arrived at the port.

Williams was startled by the glow. "It wasn't doing that before."

"We'll let the scientists figure it out once we get our asses out of here." Shepard turned away, radioing their position so the Normandy could come pick them up.

Alenko and Williams continued staring at the device. Jenkins sat down, resting his back on one of the crates across the obelisk in front of them. His head bobbing before as his eyes tiredly stared at the obelisk.

"Real working prothean tech," the lieutenant said, amazed. "Just imagine what it can teach us."

"It's a wonder, alright." Chief Williams shook her head. "I just hope it was worth it. C'mon."

She turned and sauntered back towards Shepard. Alenko continued to admire the device, drifting a few steps closer. Then another few. He found, suddenly, that he was unable to control his own steps, no matter how he dug in his heels. His whole body started to shake.

"Luitenant Alenko!"

Shepard pushed past Williams, but froze when Jenkins, _Jenkins_ of all people, managing to grab him about the waist and half-haul, half-toss him to safety before the alien device seized control of his own body in Alenko's stead. It was a matter of moments before it gripped him with the full power of an extraordinary alien device from the previous masters of the galaxy, and lifted him from the ground, transfixing him in midair.

Alenko shook off the blow and made to go after the coporal, but Williams held him down. "No! It's too dangerous!"

Shepard watched in terror as Jenkins began to scream. What shook him was the fact that the scream was just..._monsterous._ They could feel Jenkins' agony, they could see every nerve illuminating his body. Jenkins' spine arced with the force of the conflict and the power of the visions moving through him.

Then there was a massive wave of energy- the beacon's hold vanished- exploding in the process as Jenkins fell to the ground.

* * *

As Ashley and Kaidan pulled Jenkins away from the carnage, as Shepard roared into his comm to get the Normandy here ASAP, the figure pulled himself away from the scope and lowered his sniper rifle with shock. It stared at the beacon before staring at the unconscious corporal. He slid down behind the railing, staring off into the sky.

"...Unbelievable."

* * *

**Author Note**

I did warn you all that this story is going to be completely different...still I have to admit I didn't see into the story that Jenkins would be important. He will have an important role in the story. Just not what a lot of people are going to expect in a time travel fiction. I know that Jenkins is a joke character, but I learned from my English teacher that even a Joker has it's purpose. Something meaningless can mean more than it appears.

Honestly, it's a staple to see someone by the name Jenkins be killed off because of the on-going gag of Leroy Jenkins, but it does get over redundant to see something like this. I'm also tired to see someone save Jenkins and never use him significantly. Just know this. Every character in this story has a purpose. Hell in my YuGiOh GX fanfic, I made Crowler more prominent than make him a joke character.

In any case, I'll be seeing you in the next chapter. I need three more OC's for this story to work, and just to remind everyone: **Infiltrator is not taken, and gender doesn't mean squat. **Just because I labeled him as a dude doesn't mean he should be a dude.


	3. Divergence POV

**Author's Note**

Dang! Two days and another hundred readers gave this story a chance! I'm not being sarcastic at all, if I have a hundred readers in two days, that means that there are people very interested in my story. That brings a big smile on my face, knowing that my work is appreciated. Even if it's within a small community, I feel like I'm contributing to that small community. For that, I thank you all for that.

Now I've been getting a lot of questions such as what Shepard's purpose will be now because he wasn't the one that received the message from the Prothean Beacon. I'll be honest with you all, it's not going to be easy on how I'll portray Shepard now. Heck I don't even know how the Liara thing will come out now that Shepard was, within a sense, not as prominent as he was in the game. I can make no promises on this situation, but I'll do my best to find a way to address this issue.

In any case, I would like to thank **FeZeTh13** and **Shotgun Steve** again for reviewing my story. Their enthusiasm reflected in the review gave me the strength to quickly write out a new chapter. So far it's only been them, but it feels like I've been shot with adrenaline and now been pumped with more imagination. For that I thank you. I will edit this part of the Author Note when there's another reader that is willing to write a review for this story before I post this chapter.

Boring stuff aside, let's jump into the story now shall we?

* * *

"Commander Shepard!" Corporal Tombs quickly strode towards his commanding officer.

"Commander, sir." Tombs saluted.

"Tombs." Shepard returned the salute. "Did your scouts pick up anything?"

"Yes." Tombs said as he pulled out a report pad. "We found the colonists," he grimaced, "and it's not pretty"

Shepard took the pad and skimmed through the report. With each second passing by, Shepard skin pigmentation began to pale. "Is this right?"

"I'm afraid so sir." Tombs responded despondently.

"Where are the rest of your men?" Shepard demanded.

"They're gone, sir." Tomb's tone worsened. "They didn't make it."

"What caused this?" Shepard demanded again.

"It was...a thresher maw." Tombs got the words out.

A thresher maw was something that was rarely seen outside the planet of Tuchanka. Once in a while a maw was seen on other planets as a theory that like the rachni, the thresher maw could hurtle its spawn out into space and land on mostly uninhabitable planets. One popular theory suggests that the krogan brought infant maws to other planets in order to raise living weapons during the Krogan Rebellions. The reason no krogan would come forward with this knowledge, is because the ones responsible for raising the thresher maw was killed _trying to raise the thresher maw._

"Well we have to get this unit moving…" Shepard was cut short when the ground began to quake uncontrollably. He turned his attention to Tombs and from the look on his face, Tombs knew what it was exactly.

"Everyone topside, now!"

All the soldiers rushed to their posts. Despite the shaking of the ground, the men and women were keeping their eyes open for what could be out there.

The ground kept shaking terribly until someone yelled _'Right flank!'_

A large hideous head rose attached with a worm-like body from the ground and gave out an ear shattering roar. After the creature's presence have been known, it opened its mouth and shot out a stream of dark green liquid.

Shepard closes his eyes and covers his face with his palms. Then he unshielded his eyes and saw the men and women under his command...dead. Their bodies weren't riddled with bullet holes or shards of shrapnel tearing through a human body.

They were **_melted_**.

Melted from the dark green acid the thresher maw fired from its mouth, there was practically nothing of his team. Surrounded by their liquefied organs and the sizzling skeletons inside their armor, while their skulls making a face in a perpetual yawn, Shepard could do nothing but bathe in horror of its aftermath, walking around with the sense of confusion, disbelief, and denial.

He wanted to scream, but nothing could come out.

Then he felt a grip on his ankle. He looked down and saw a melting skeleton look up at Shepard and the skeleton said, gurgling its words. "_Commander...how could you?_"

"No..." He furiously kicked the bony hand away from his ankle, only to be grabbed by another.

"_We trusted you Commander..."_ Two more shot out, holding his wrist firmly. As much as he shook, the skeletal corpse defied all laws of physics. Overpowering him by holding him down.

"I didn't know! I didn't know!" He screamed, frantically shaking his head as more hands grabbed him.

"_You led us to our demise..."_

"Please! I did all what I could! I tried!" He begged as the thresher maw slowly made it's way to Shepard.

"_Join us..."_

"_Come with us, Commander..."_

_"Shepard..."_

"Let me go!" He pleaded, "Please! Let me go!" The creature responsible for annihilating his squadron of soldier slowly began to open it's mouth. Dribble of acids fell on the ground, with an audible sizzle.

**_"Join_** _**us!"**_

The thresher maw roared before diving down on it's recent prey.

* * *

Shepard opened his eyes with sweat dripping down his head.

"Akuze..." Suddenly he lurched forward as he quickly rushed to the restroom; emptying out whatever lunch or dinner he ate once he arrived back to the Normandy.

"God damn Akuze..." he wobbled his way to the sink and splashed himself with handful of water. Red eyes reflected back at the worn out Commander as he washed his buzzed cut scalp. Staggering out of the restroom, Shepard took a few deep breaths before he opened the door. Williams was waiting. Underneath the armor she was definitely a woman you wouldn't expect to be in the military. If not for her Alliance uniform Shepard would have thought of her as a simple crew member and not a marine.

An attractive marine at that.

"Did you want something Gunnery Chief?" Shepard asked.

"Captain Anderson wanted to see you in his office sir, I think it's about the mission." Ashley said.

"You did good down there Williams, you'll be a real asset to the Normandy," Shepard said.

"Really? I feel like I'm an unwelcome guest..."

"Don't be ridiculous Williams, you're going to fit in just fine." Shepard smiled before it vanished with a frown, "How's Jenkins?"

"Kaidan's down there," Ashley responded back quietly. "I hope he's all right. After what happened down there the crew could use some good news."

"Williams, that wasn't your fault. If anything it was mine." Shepard sighed. "I should have followed protocols, instead I was too focused on securing the mission instead of the safety of my squad mate." The Gunnery Chief gave him a grin.

"Thank you Commander." Ashley saluted the officer, "I shouldn't hold you up. Anderson would want to see you soon." Shepard gave her a nod before walking towards Anderson's office.

From Ashley's perspective the Commander didn't come across as chatty. He was cold in his manner, and all business in his approach. Although as she watched him leave she did note one other fact, he had a cute ass.

* * *

Shepard saluted the captain as he walked into his office.

"Shepard, you did pretty good down there, the colonies still standing thanks to you." Anderson said.

"Intel dropped the balls sir, we had no idea what we were walking into down there. That's why the mission went to hell, why Jenkins' almost brain dead and in the medical bay." Shepard explained.

Anderson liked that about Shepard, he spoke his mind even when it could get him into trouble. But this was a case where outright fury would get them nowhere. "No one could have predicted that the Geth would go to Eden Prime, and as for Jenkins it wasn't your fault. You did a good job and Chakwas assures me that the coporal is fine."

"You wanted to see me sir?" Shepard asked.

Anderson nodded his head, walking across his office and looking at the reply from his superiors. He wasn't going to hide the fact that things were bad. The Alliance was in uproar because they nearly lost a colony and the council was angry over Nihlus. From the political side the Citadel viewed the mission failure as an excuse to keep Shepard out of the Spectres and the more radical officers within the Alliance wanted what was left of the Beacon away from the Council. Meaning that they wanted Jenkins.

"I wont lie to you Shepard, things are bad, the beacon was destroyed and the council wants answers," Anderson said.

"The council can kiss my ass, I wont let them blame my team for what happened. We didn't do anything wrong." Shepard raved.

"I'll stand by you and your report Shepard, you're a hero in my eyes. But that's not why I wanted to speak with you. It's about Saren, that other Turian, he's a Spectre and one of the best. He also hates humanity!" Anderson said darkly.

"Saren wasn't there because he hates humanity, he was there for the Beacon." Shepard said.

Anderson nodded his head in agreement, "Your right," he said. "Whatever was on that Beacon Saren decided it was worth going rogue for, and a rogue Spectre is trouble. The council needs to see that Saren is just as much a danger to them as he is to humanity."

Shepard sighed, every time the Alliance asked for help the Council would ignore them. They encouraged them to expand and become greater involved in the galactic community, but when things would get tough they would stand back. "It is a purely human concern," they would say. Unity was a path to peace and if true peace were to reign then humanity would need to be united with the Council. Shepard knew this, he understood this but he also knew and understood that not everyone amongst the Citadel or humanity wanted true unity. Saren was such an individual, and Shepard was sure that the key to bringing Saren down was in whatever testimony Jenkins could give.

That is, if he'll ever wake up.

* * *

Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko sat in the Normandy's infirmary reading a book from his datapad. The first five hours had been a living nightmare for them all. When he and Gunnery Chief Williams had carried the unconscious corporal back to the ship, when Shepard was dragged away by Anderson for a report, when nobody was sure the extent of Jenkins' injuries, when Jenkins was running a dangerous fever level of 105 degree, when Jenkins was jibbering a foreign language that no one could officially translate, the list goes on but the end result was the same; it was just not their day.

Dr. Chakwas, the medic of the ship that saw her own crew as family, felt her confidence diminished during those hours. She pumped him with antibiotics and placed countless packets of ice packs all over his bodies to cool him down. But no matter what she did, Jenkins condition haven't changed a bit. In fact his condition worsen from simple murmur to blood curl screams. Breathless warning of the "Reapers" and the "Cycle" sent shivered down the crew, and it was after the fourth hour that Jenkins finally lost his voice to continue.

It's been an hour, and though he was still running a fever, it did drop down by four degrees. Not a major improvement, but an improvement nevertheless. From what Dr. Chakwas was able to diagnose after that, there was no lasting harm that her instruments could detect, and it was only a matter of time until her patient's brain repaired itself sufficiently to wake. She predicted that Jenkin would wake up when they arrive to the Citadel, but with what happened back on Eden Prime, anything's possible.

Kaidan noted all the "should" and "I thinks" in the doctor's explanation, and thought it best to park himself here. He'd had his share of waking up alone in coldly clinical rooms on Jump Zero, and Jenkins, even if he's a rookie, was a friend. He was worried. Jenkins was his responsibility. He was suppose to be the one to protect him, show him the ropes. In the end, it was his fault that Jenkins was in this mess. If he hadn't gotten so close to the beacon...

Though the worst of it seemed over, his fever died down by a few degrees after a few hours, but Kaidan didn't truly relax until Jenkins groaned and stirred a bit on the table. He set the datapad aside. "Dr. Chakwas? I think he's waking up."

The elderly doctor hustled over. She was quick to whip out her pen light and shine it into Jenkins eyes, critically. "How do you feel?"

The corporal groaned out weakly. "Remember that story you told me about my uncle? About how you almost lost your mind because he almost killed everyone back on the Upper planet in the Blackrock system of the Spire nebula? Multiply that migraine by one hundred."

Dr. Chakwas mouth quirked, before she finally let loose a string of a low volumed chuckle. How could she forget? It was a few years after the First Contact war, where humanity began to make several pilgrimage through various star systems. One of the excursion team we're overunned with dragon-like spawn of an alien dubbed the Rookery. Normally this wouldn't garner much reaction from the Alliance but when they heard of the description of the creature and what they did it almost brought everyone on the edge.

The end resulted in the Alliance sending in a team of N7 Demolishers, Shadows, and Furies led by Anderson. His uncle was missing during the planning, and when the team were about to put the plan into fruition, Chief Warrant Officer Leroy Jenkins ruined everything and the team was almost massacred by the swarm.

If it weren't for Anderson's quick thinking, the Shadows tactical cloaking to get everyone out of there without detection, the Demolisher's grenades, the Furies' barrier/stasis/singularities and Jenkins' dumb luck, everyone would have been dead. That man nearly drove everyone into suicide.

For some odd reason, everyone was promoted to either First or Second Luitenant, including the Chief Warrant Officer.

Needless to say, it was the most strangest, and the most stressful, mission that Dr. Chakwas partook.

Smiling, Dr. Chakwas pulled the pen away. "I think you can try sitting up. Easy does it."

Slowly, the corporal raised herself until he was perched on the edge of the table, rubbing his head. He caught sight of Alenko and blinked. "How long was I out?"

"About fifteen hours, give or take," he said. There was real concern in his voice. "We couldn't wake you up after the beacon… did whatever it did. Williams and I had to carry you back here."

A small smile. "Thanks."

He returned it. "Hey, you're my responsibility remember? I can't let you dying off like that, not after you saved my ass from that beacon."

Jenkins snorted laughter and immediately regretted it. "God, I feel like my head's going to split open."

Chakwas felt around the base of her skull and neck with careful, gentle movements. "Everything seems to be in place. I think you just got a nasty bump when you landed, likely a concussion. I recommend taking it easy the next few days. And swallow these."

She handed him a paper cup of pills, which Jenkins quickly slammed down before accepting a small cup of water.

The light-hearted expression faded from Alenko's face. "Anyway, it was my fault. I was too curious. I must have triggered some kind of defensive mechanism when I got too close."

"Bah, don't worry about it! It's all good!" Another smile, this one meant to soothe more than convey anything like mirth. "You couldn't have known what would happen. It was really my fault, I jumped in without knowing what would happen-"

Suddenly Jenkins felt like he'd been hit by a mako going at top speed. His whole body was one big ache. The images from the beacon were still clear as glass in his mind, and as sharp. Jenkins thoughts shrank from them. Almost on cue, the doctor commented, "I did detect some strange activity in your brain scan. Abnormal beta waves, usually indicative of some kind of intense dreaming."

"To be honest Dr. Chakwas? It was more like a nightmare," the corporal confessed, staring past his knees to the cross-hatched metal floor. Now that it was over, it felt… well, what would be a good way for a soldier to explain to his commanding officer and claim to have been granted visions of a race being annihilated brutally and horrifically from an alien device? Jenkins immediately changed the subject. "Did the beacon make it on board?"

"No," said a voice from the doorway. "It exploded after it did… whatever it did to you." Quickly, Jenkins and Alenko pulled themselves to stand and saluted to Anderson and Shepard. "Sir!"

"At ease, gentlemen." Anderson waved off as the two relaxed. The captain turned to Dr. Chakwas and Kaidan, "We need to speak with corporal Jenkins. Alone."

"Right, sir," Alenko said. "I'll be in the mess if you need me."

He spoke to the captain, but he glanced at Shepard before he left, followed by the doctor. "That beacon hit you pretty rough down there Jenkins, how are you feeling?" Shepard asked, his voice crisper and less compassionate than Chakwas', but there was still hint of concern laced in.

"Pardon the language sir, but it was the worst fucking day of my life."

"Pardoned." Jenkins grinned, which quickly vanished as he looked at his palms. "Why Eden Prime? Why did it have to be Eden Prime?"

"I'm not the type of person to ask that question." Shepard bluntly replied.

Anderson gave Jenkins a sympathetic glance as the Corporal covered his face, "First I find out that geth invaded my home, fight off **_monsters_** that could have easily been my friends, and now I have this nightmare constantly replaying itself in my head. Honestly, I'm not even sure how to feel at this moment. I feel angry, sad, and hopeless."

Anderson sighed and rubbed his face, looking old, and tired. He knew that it was going to be hard for the Corporal, but they needed this intel if they were going to stop Saren. "I understand this isn't the time, but we need answers Corporal Jenkins. To start off, what did that beacon do to you? What did you see?" Anderson asked.

Jenkins swallowed hard. He really didn't want to go through with it. The things that he saw, the things that he _**went**_through, they're not for PG audiences. It's not My Little Pony, hell it's worse than any torture-porn films that were popular back in the early twenty-first century. But as much as he hated to tell the story, Anderson and Shepard are his commanding officer.

"I..." He paused, how the hell can he even start? His brows furrowed as he concentrated at the beginning. "I saw aliens, sir. Not like the Turians or the Asaris. They we're a bit bulkier. Four eyes. Head shaped like bugs or something-"

Jenkins stopped. He shouldn't be wasting time describing the aliens to them. The corporal skipped to...**_it._**

"T-They were being slaughtered by these... synthetic creatures. Squid like, and there were _thousands_." Jenkins mouth dried up as a scene of a planet engulfed in flames flashed into his mind. "Stars. Galaxies. Anything that they got on, it burned...there was nothing left alive in the end..."

He was trembling at this point as he relived their screams. Their last moments before complete annihilation. "They were being _butchered_! They were _impaled_ like those zombies we saw back on Eden Prime! Some were even _melted _into these milkshake thing! It was _fuel_ for them! The sky was like it was on fire! Red lightnings!"

Jenkins was in a completely different world at this point as he listed off the terror he witnessed. The massacre. The extinction. "Screams, commander. They were all _screaming_!"

Shepard and Anderson where taken aback by the young man's description of the vision. The Alliance and Council expected a data cache or weapon schematics.

They sure didn't expect some sick video of a whole species dying.

"Hey." The corporal flinched at the touch, but it nevertheless did bring Jenkins out of his funk. "It's alright Jenkins. You can stop now." Shepard remembered the corporal as a gun ho newbie whose motived to make his commander proud, to make his family proud, to make _everyone_ on Eden Prime proud.

The man that sat front of him now, was a shockingly reflection of Shepard after Akuze.

"It'll never stop, commander." Jenkins continued on. "They're stuck in my head, and they'll be there until the day I die..."

That, Commander Shepard and Captain David Anderson _knew, _was the cold hard truth.

* * *

"The Council needs to know about this."

"What, all of it?" Shepard was surprised. "They'll think Jenkins' out of his mind. Worse case scenario, they'll probably ask the Alliance to send him to a mental asylum."

"It's another piece of the puzzle. Evidence towards what Saren wants, and what he's planning." He folded his arms. "I've arranged for us to travel to the Citadel. Joker should be approaching now. Walk up to the bridge and tell him to initiate docking protocols. Then go and get yourself ready to meet with the ambassador."

Shepard saluted. "Yes, sir."

He paused at the door. "Oh, and one other thing. I've had Williams transferred to the Normandy. We can use someone with her courage."

"Respectfully, sir, I don't want her on my ship." Shepard gave him a level look. "She shouldn't be near active duty at the very least until she's had a psych eval. The entire 212 was just destroyed in front of her by monsters out of childhood stories."

"I seem to remember another bright young soldier who damn near mutinied when his C.O. suggested the exact same thing," Anderson replied, with irony but very little humor. "Alenko recommended the transfer and he's got solid judgment, and the marines are his purview. Anyway, it's my ship, and it's done. If it becomes a problem you'll deal with it later."

Anderson nodded, and left him standing alone outside the infirmary. It wasn't long before he nearly collided with Alenko.

"Sorry, sir," he said. "I just saw the captain leave, and I left my book."

He nodded to the infirmary. Shepard looked at it, and looked back at him, connecting for the first time that he must have sat there the whole fifteen hours with Jenkins, and this was after a grueling mission that exhausted the lot of them. "Look whatever happened to Jenkins wasn't your fault." Kaidan sagged his shoulders. "You're not the first to tell me that Commander."

Shepard gave him a second glance, "How are you holding up?"

"You're asking me?" It was his turn to be surprised.

"It couldn't have been easy for you either," Shepard suggested. "Almost losing Jenkins and all."

"Yeah." He sighed. "This might sound odd, given everything, but that was the first time I've almost lost someone under my command. And all those dead civilians… It's going to take awhile to process. I'm just glad we didn't lose Jenkins too."

"It's a club nobody wants to join. Tell you what. When we get to the Citadel, we'll find a dive bar somewhere for the corporal and drink our asses off."

"I think he'd like that, sir."

Shepard rubbed his head again. "Council's not going to be happy about any of this."

"That's for sure. Probably try to use it to lever more concessions from the Alliance." Alenko rolled his eyes. "Politics. What are you going to do?"

Shepard gave him an even look. "Nothing really."

Alenko held up his hands. "Right. Anyways, can I get my book now?"

"Right. Sure." Shepard blinked and stepped out of the way. He watched as Alenko entered the room before he exited out...with Jenkins following behind.

"C-Commander!" The corporal saluted.

"At ease." Jenkins sighed in relief as Alenko excused himself from the two. Shepard was about to make his leave when Jenkins suddenly spoke up. "How did you cope with it, sir?"

"Excuse me?"

"With...I mean..." Shepard didn't need Jenkins to finish his sentence to know what the corporal wanted to ask of him.

"I don't." Jenkins snapped his head up, shocked. "I constantly have nightmares about it. I'm constantly choked every night with my team being killed by that thresher maw back at Akuze."

Shepard leaned on the cool door and sighed. "You want to know the worst part about the whole thing? It wasn't the attack. It was the circus that came after that. The medal ceremony. The promotion. The interviews. All the accolades due a hero, simply for being too damn stubborn, tenacious, and lucky to not die. Trying to make sense of what had happened in private while playing the resilient bright-eyed toy soldier in public, undaunted, proud to serve."

The Commander suddenly slammed his fist onto the wall, making Jenkins jump in fright. "This opportunity had the same feel to it, like someone was seeing what they wanted to believe, rather than something I earned honestly. Humanity wanted a spectre; I was in the right place at the right time. They needed a symbol. Just like damned Akuze."

Jenkins gave the commander a somber look, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Don't worry about it. I remember asking Anderson about it too on how he coped with the First Contact War." Shepard placed a hand on the corporal's shoulder. "I'll tell you what Anderson told me; don't try to forget about it. I know it's hard, and with what you saw from that beacon it's going to be rather difficult to cope with it; but it's all in the past. You can't change what happened back then, so make use of what's happening now. Instead of looking at that vision with a repulsive attitude, look at it as an opportunity. An opportunity to help future races from being destroyed. To prevent something similar that made **_them _**extinct."

Jenkins was silent through the whole lecture, but as the commander finished, Jenkins' bright personality was slowly resurfacing. "Thanks commander, when you put it like that, it doesn't sound as bad as I thought it would have been."

Shepard stared at him for a startled moment, the commander didn't expect Jenkins to quickly accept what he said in a snap. The corporal noticed this, and started to laugh. Shepard shook his head. "I should go. Give you sometime alone."

Jenkins smiled and saluted. "See you later, commander." He paused. "...and thanks for the talk. I really needed that."

Shepard gave him a nod before Jenkins walked away from the meeting a little lighter.

...that or maybe it was just Chakwas' magic pills finally kicking in.

* * *

Williams was sitting on the stairs up to the CIC, staring at her hands. Shepard studied her a long moment, before the girl noticed. The gunnery chief was a pretty thing, never an advantage in the military, and wore her long brown hair in a knot at the base of her skull. She'd handled a rifle like a pro. Infantry clearly suited her. She was still in her armor, the white and red standing out against the somber navy blue of the ship, and the helmet lay next to her.

Shepard leaned against the wall, arms folded. "We try not to block the stairwell around here, chief. Too many people coming back and forth."

Williams jumped off of the steps, startled. Shepard gave her an easy smile to calm her down, and gradually the chief settled back. "Sorry, sir. Haven't got my billet yet."

"Anderson can be a bit vague on details sometimes. We'll get you sorted out." Shepard studied her face closely. "How are you holding up?"

Williams picked up the helmet and turned it over in her hands. "I've seen friends die before, but my whole unit… there were so many dead down there. I… honestly, sir, I haven't seen much in the way of combat outside training exercises. I've mostly had ground postings."

"You did well. It won't get better, but it will get easier. I promise." Shepard tried for encouraging.

"You can't promise that." Her head jerked up. "When I think of them all, Jackson with his stupid magazines, Bhatia and her cooking…"

"Yesterday, when we were headed for the relay, I thought about how Park would always get sick every single time we made a jump, never failed. It's been almost six years."

"You lost a unit, sir?" Williams sounded doubtful, and Shepard found himself actually bemused at the situation. It was so rare to have to introduce herself to fellow soldiers these days.

...it was kind of refreshing.

"Yeah. 50 marines. I was an L.T. then. A colony completely dropped off the radar, suspected terrorist activity, so they sent in special ops. Never found any terrorists, or colonists for that matter, but one giant, hungry, irritated, thresher maw."

"Holy shit." Williams was suddenly mortified. "You're THAT Shepard? From Akuze?"

Shepard didn't bother to reply. "C'mon. Joker's taking us into the nebula now. I hear it's a helluva view."

Shepard held out his hand and hauled Williams to her feet. They reached the bridge just in time to see the Normandy dive into the petals of the giant station. Shepard glanced at Joker. "The captain says we're ready to dock."

"Aye aye, ma'am." Joker made a marginal adjustment to the pitch of the ship.

Jenkins made his way up to the cockpit, and before long he had all but pressed his nose to the glass. "Wow."

"Hard to believe it's really that big." Shepard had only been to the Citadel a handful of times herself, and spent the approach below decks. It really was spectacular. The whole station was lily-shaped, pearly white on the outside and flecked with rosy orange lights and fixtures within.

Clutched in its center, like a prized jewel, was the largest space ship in the Galaxy.

Williams was quick to spot it. "What's that?"

"The Destiny Ascension." Joker chuckled. "Head of the Citadel Fleet."

"It's huge! I bet it could rip through the hull of any ship in the Alliance!"

"Well, size isn't everything. You need firepower too."

Shepard rolled his eyes. "I should knock that cap straight off your head."

Williams looked over her shoulder. "Huh?"

"Nothing." Joker cleared his throat. "Citadel Control, this is the _SSV Normandy_, requesting permission to dock."

"That's our cue," Shepard said, turning to leave the bridge. "I think Rosamund is about your size."

"Huh?" Williams and Jenkins trotted along behind him.

"Anderson wants the ground team to be available to the ambassador. Udina is putting together a case to present to the Council. That means dress blue." She gave the chief a dry glance. "Unless you're hiding a uniform somewhere in that armor, I need to find you a set."

* * *

Ten minutes later, all four were dressed to occasion aboard the _Normandy_. Shepard, Jenkins and Alenko wore tailored suit that matched their build respectfully. Though the suit was a bit larger for Jenkins, all three looked rather _dashing_. It was hard to belief that these men were military. Williams suffered from no such dilemma either. Shuffling in front of the sink, tugging on her makeshift uniform, freshly showered and pink-cheeked, she looked like a recruitment ad come to life. Like all infantry, Williams was fit, but she still filled it out in all the right places.

And to think, this was all for a diplomatic meeting.

Shepard fixed his cufflinks. "Alright corporal, chief, you two ready?"

"I look ridiculous, sir." Jenkins sleeves were covering his hands as he quickly tried to remedy the situation. Williams bit her lip and glanced at the commander and the luitenant sidelong. "You don't think he'll ask me any questions, do you, commander?"

"He might. That _is_ why Anderson is bringing us along." Shepard's brow furrowed. "Is that a problem?"

She swallowed. "No, sir. I'm just not used to this kind of attention, is all."

Kaidan couldn't help but to chuckle. "Don't over think it, Williams. This is easy. Just answer clearly and honestly, and let his twisty politician's mind do all the translating to Council-speak."

That got her a half a smile, and Joker's voice crackled over the comm, in broadcast mode. "Captain, docking procedures are complete. The ambassador's shuttle is waiting."

Shepard smoothed his jacket one last time. "Let's go find out exactly what these Council bastards want."

* * *

Tali'Zorah nar Rayya stood in an alleyway in the Wards, nervously wringing her hands. She shifted her weight from leg to leg, trying to work out her anxiety. So far, her Pilgrimage has been hopeless. She had followed a platoon of Geth to Eden Prime, a planet which was way beyond the Veil, and ambushed a lone unit. She extracted some data from its memory core, but ended up being chased across the galaxy for it. Saren's men had relentlessly pursued her, wounding her and killing a close companion, forcing her to offer the information to Fist, an agent of the Shadow Broker.

Now here she was, waiting for the Shadow Broker to meet her in person.

She had learned the hard way: out here, she had no friends, no family, no allies. Even those on the Citadel, the pinnacle of galactic civilization, treated quarians with disgust. Everywhere she went, people gave her dirty looks and a wide berth. To them, she was just another filthy quarian thief. She desperately needed security, for someone to take her away from the people that mistrusted and hurt her. The Shadow Broker was her way out. Fist would take her data and give her protection in return. Her Pilgrimage was starting to look up. But why was she so nervous?

She took a deep breath and forced her hands apart.

Tali checked her suit's warnings again as she walked to the meeting with the Shadow Broker. She still have half a dozen infections, but the patch in her suit was holding up; her friends at the flotilla supplied her with extra immuno boosters and given her plenty of anti-biotics, so she only had a slight fever and a runny nose. A small price to pay for what she was about to do. In exchange for her information, Tali wanted the Shadow Broker to get her a small ship to take back to the migrant fleet. Combined with the data on the geth, it would be a pilgrimage gift that would make even her father proud.

Maybe.

Rael'Zorah was notoriously hard to please, even if you were his only daughter. Her bosh'tet of a father hadn't even bothered to send her off on her pilgrimage in person, leaving her a message she never even finished watching. But how could he ignore the gift of an entire ship and data that could retake the homeworld?

"Maybe he will even say 'I love you.' For once." Tali muttered to herself.

She shook her head. Focus. No time to dwell.

A turian, flanked by a pair of armored salarians, approached her from the end of the hallway. The turian's face was painted with a curious design; it looked like a skull. The strange marks on his face, along with the dim setting in the alleyway, made the scene quite ominous to her.

"Did you bring it?" He walked closer to her in confident, predatory steps.

"Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist!?" Tali demanded. Something wasn't right. The Shadow Broker had confirmed that he would be here in person!

"Oh they will be here," The turian said it too-sweet tones as he fingered Tali's suit. "Now, where's the evidence?"

Tali slapped his hand away and took a step back. One of her hand lingered on the edge of her shotgun while the other readied one of the many small explosives she kept on her just encase. "No way. The deal's off."

The turian slowly drew his pistol and waved it menacingly in the air. Tali's body tensed up in fear. Even with all the armory she was carrying, it was still her against three other foot soldiers. "I don't have time for this. Give me the data, or I'll put a bullet in your head-"

"Like this?"

Tali froze when suddenly the turian's head _exploded_. Not figuratively, but literally, the head burst with gore. Blue droplets splattering over Tali's mask, which quickly shook her out of her shock. Tali cried out in fright as she fell to the floor in surprise. The turian's body convulsed before he slumped over onto the ground, revealing a tall human in jet-black armor, an N7 logo emblazoned on his right pectoral. How did he get over there without being detected? She glanced up to see his face, only to be stared back at a red glare and grey helmet plating. The salarians raised their pistols at the human, taking quick aim.

What happened next literally made Tali flabbergasted. For someone whose carrying a lot of luggage on his back, for someone that was weighed down by various shield capillaries and platings, the soldier suddenly moved in a blur. He snapped behind and cocked his gun before two, _two,_ thunderous crack of his shotgun sounded. One of the salarian's head exploded into chunks of flesh and mists of green blood. The remaining salarian was tossed like a ragdoll against the wall, his body split into two.

Tali looked at the human as he pumped his shotgun, before sheathing it behind his tailbone. He was taller and broader than most humans she had seen. He was also visibly well-muscled, even in armor. The man crouched down to her and removed his helmet, brows furrowed in concern. Deep brown eyes stared into her masked. Finally he asked,

"Are you alright?"

He was shockingly handsome, for an alien. He had a head of messy black hair and a strong jaw that gave her the urge to just caress it with her hands. He was perfect, yet not at the same time. She noticed burn scars on parts of his neck as well as part of his chin. However that did nothing to mar his appearance. His features exuded a careless but authoritative confidence, yet there was also a pleasant aura of calm about him. His voice was relaxed and warm.

She couldn't help but feel safe in his presence.

"Miss…?"

Tali snapped out of her daydreaming, realizing that she was staring. Heat rose to her cheeks, and she began twiddling with her fingers.

"Ah.. you... sorry. I-I'm fine. T-Thank you.."

Keelah, is she seriously stammering to a stranger?

The human's face relaxed and he gave her a small smile. He stood and held out an open hand, which Tali accepted. She was hoisted back to her feet without much effort, leaving Tali impressed with his strength. Her eyes lingered on his arms, wondering what they would look like without the armor… Shaking her head to regain her composure, she spoke angrily.

"That bosh'tet Fist set me up! Keelah, I knew I couldn't trust him!"

"Don't worry, I'll deal with Fist later." Tali blinked when she noticed that the human was trying to reach something within his armor. Something he was having with much difficulties. Not to be rude to her rescuer, Tali witheld the urge to laugh and was about to ask if he needed help. Just when she finally found the peace to ask, he finally pulled a piece of cloth from within his armor and handed it to her, an apologetic look on his face. "You have some…" He gestured helplessly at her helmet.

Tali stood dumbfounded for a few moments, before gingerly accepting the rag and cleaned off the turian blood from her mask. Though it didn't do much, it was the thought that counts. She handed it back to him and looked down to her feet.

"T-thank you."

She was never shown such kindness from a non-quarian before. The gesture was profoundly kind and heartwarming to her. This... human was so unlike everyone else that she had met. Looking back up at the human, though he wouldn't be able to see it, she shyly smiled.

"Um.. If you don't mind me asking, w-who are you?"

Her face heated up again as the human gave her a gentle smile. "I'm Commander Stephen Shepard, and I'm taking you to Dr. Michel before your infection gets worse."

* * *

**Author Note:**

The last part might have been a little rushed, I might return later to re-edit it to make it more smooth, but this is it for now. Time has already been shifted. Looks like Tali's already in danger...and we finally see our first Shepard.

I wish I could say more, but honestly, I'm feeling brain-dead at this point.


	4. Diluted Waters and Murky Oil

**Author's Note**

Unbelievable, not only did another hundred more gave this story a chance, but another hundred was added into the bunch. Meaning two hundred readers gave this story a shot to be read at. You guys have no idea how much this means to me, because each time I write a chapter I always wondered if my premise is too boring or if this story will be worth it in the end. I will do my best not to disappoint, but I may have to slow down a bit because I'm going to focus on school mostly (college). That and I finally got my hands on Call of Duty MW3. I can finally see what the hype is all about, it's so much fun!

Now questions on the stories I will answer. How many Shepards are you going to put in? That depends. Honestly, I'm just going to do six. If I have too much I get lost on whose who. However if someone can convince me to add in more, then I'll consider it. Another question I've been receiving is Jenkins' role throughout this story. I can't tell you too much about it without spoiling the story, but I swear Jenkins will be changed so much that nobody will believe that this is the same Jenkins that was suppose to die in the first Mass Effect game.

In any case, I would like to thank **FeZeTh13** and **Shotgun Steve** once more for reviewing my story. They're damn loyal to wait for me to release another chapter, and I will gladly oblige their request. Another person I'd like to thank are the people that have not only put this story on their Alert list but also as their favorites. For that I thank you.

* * *

The ambassador's car was waiting at the Alliance dock to escort the four off to the central ring, where the Embassies were. If the situation wasn't all too serious, then Jenkins would have definitely been in a state of awe as he observed the Embassies. The elite of the Citadel lived in a garden-world environment, complete with a ring-shaped lake and a holographic sky. They called it the Presidium. Here, every day was warm and sunny. Almost as if the world outside didn't exist.

It reminded him of home.

As the car zipped over the azure water, it was hard for Jenkins to remember the hazy, fire-strewn carnage of his home colony Eden Prime. The memories ran together with all the other battlefields, washed away in the rushing of the air Jenkins was so used, to the calm of the district.

In front of him, Shepard sat stoically. He spent the whole ride with his hands folded in his lap, staring stonily at nothing at all. Jenkins was slouched back so far in his seat that the scalp of his head was level with the bottom of the headrest, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes half-lidded.

Exhaustion was one word to summarize what Jenkins was feeling right now. Who can blame him? His colony is in ruins and he's been sucked into hell the moment he made contact with that beacon. If that's not enough, his head was throbbing, a love note from the concussion of the beacon. Williams continued to fiddle with her uniform until the piping would tear loose. Alenko, for his part, had his nose glued to the window, admiring the scenery.

At least one of them was actually taking notice of the beauty around them.

Upon arrival, Anderson hustled the four straight up to the offices of Ambassador Udina. Jenkins observed the ambassador and bit his lips from laughing out loud. Weather it was from Dr. Chakwas' medicine or the beacon messing up with his head, Jenkins was pretty sure that Udina's voice was like a raging bulldog that had his chew toy taken away from him. His face was contorted to the point where as if he had bit into a lemon or something more sour than usual. His suit was expensively tailored and what hair he possessed immaculately groomed. There's a lot of things though that Jenkins learned by observing Udina.

He apparently has a knack of talent of pissing off the Council.

The quartet walked in just as he was finishing a call.

"Chirp. Chirp chirp chirp. Chirp chirp chirp. Chirp," the turian councilor chided, with a hint of anger. "Chirp. Chirp chirp chirp. Chirp, chirp."

Jenkins rapidly blinked, did he hear the turian councilor just chirp the hell out of Udina? Maybe that beacon really did mess him up badly. In any case, Udina might have tried for a last word, but at that moment the Council cut the call. So instead he and spared no time informing them of their inconvenience, turning his rage on Anderson. "Captain *bark*. I see *wuff wuff* brought *howwwwwwl* your crew *bark bark BARK* you."

...ok the moment he gets back to the Normandy, he'll ask for a diagnosis from Dr. Chakwas.

"Just the ground team from Eden Prime," Anderson replied mildly. "I thought they might be needed to answer some questions."

Udina looked down his long nose at the four soldiers. It was an impressive feat considering the ambassador was a rather short man. Shepard himself had a significant height advantage as the commanding officer stared him down, and was mildly impressed when he didn't blink. Jenkins really wished what was going on, because all what he can hear from Udina is more barking and howling.

"Saren shot Nihlus," Shepard stated firmly. "He's the one who brought geth to Eden Prime."

Bark, bark. Wulf wulf. Bark. Though Jenkins had a hard time understanding what the Ambassador was trying to convey, the Corporal did get the impression that whatever Udina was barking about, it was dripped with sarcasm.

"The beacon's loss was unfortunate, but impossible to foresee," Anderson said sharply.

Aooooooooow. Bark. Bark bark. Ha ha. Bark. Jenkins felt embarrassed at this point. Udina's gaze was on him, and all he could understand from the Human representative were barks and howls. He stared piercingly at Jenkins, stroking his chin, before sliding his gaze back to the captain. Once more, the Ambassador returned to more barking and howling.

"And where were you twenty years ago, ambassador? Aside from kissing the ass of any politician on Arcturus who stood still long enough for your lips to get a good grip?"

Udina's face went purple. Shepard took a step forward, subtly insinuating himself between the two men. "What are the councilors looking for, exactly?"

"Grrrrrrrrr. Proof." Ah! Jenkins understood that part! The corporal's lip widened into a smile while Udina's lips thinned. "Bark bark bark - bark the asari influence- and aooooooooooooow."

And Jenkins was back with the whole dog language again. If this is karma for thinking Udina like a dog, then the Corporal profusely apologize to any deity above to make this all stop. Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams lifted her chin and folded her arms. "So how do we find them proof?"

Anderson glanced at them. "I've already sent ahead our reports about the attack. Citadel Security initiated an investigation into our claims about Saren."

"Sounds like you got an audience, anyway." Shepard glanced at Udina.

Grrr. Pant pant. Grrr. Yawn. Pant. Pant. Udina cleared his throat. Bark bark. pant. pant. Wuff wuff-

"Sorry," Jenkins interjected, "I...kinda need the dumbed down version on what the ambassador said. No offense." the corporal sheepishly apologized, not wanting to admit that the ambassador was practically acting like a dog at this point in his mind.

"We're going to present our case against Saren as will C-Sec." Kaidan explained with a disarming grin. "If we can get his spectre status revoked it'll help us immensely when we're going to hunt him down." Kaidan looked off to Udina and Anderson. "The bad part is that their word will carry more weight than ours. Thing is, C-Sec is well-regarded on the Citadel and... they're full of turians."

Watching Udina bark and scowl now, Jenkins was certain the ambassador had done little to impress any other reputation on their alien friends. Great.

Anderson was stern. "C-Sec is charged with upholding the law, regardless of stature or species. They'll do their job."

"You don't seriously believe that."

Oh my god, he's finally speaking English! Thank you god!

"I've been on this Citadel nearly since we knew of its existence. The Council makes a good show respecting every species, but make no mistake. This is a clique, captain, and humanity is on the outside looking in."

"The facts are on our side." Anderson was concerned, but unruffled. This wasn't his first battle. "It will have to be enough."

"Hmm." The ambassador turned his attention back to Shepard, with that same piercing glare. "A spectre's weight could have helped us considerably. A shame."

Somebody should make an Omni-tool 2183 Omni-lingual translator. Jenkins thought in the back of his head, ignoring the whole discussion. They'll totally make bank. You can never be too sure, Udina is speaking English now, but what if he suddenly switches back?

Shepard opened his mouth, but Anderson got there first. "We're not out of the running yet. We just have to make our case."

"Yes. Well, we will certainly do our best. Eden Prime demands answers." Udina straightened his jacket. "Captain, I need to review a few details with you before the hearing, and I need to get clearances in place for your, ah, guests."

It wasn't a request. Anderson turned to his crew. "Go enjoy the Presidium. I'll contact you by omnitool when the proceedings are about to begin."

"Aye aye, sir." They saluted, and soon found themselves on the other side of Udina's locked door.

Shepard leaned against the wall and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why do I get the feeling he's going to be a continual problem?"

"Because he's a politician?" Jenkins suggested, unhelpfully.

"They're all worthless," Williams spat. "Still, one of their people is dead, and that's got to rankle."

Shepard knew it was the appropriate moment to say that Nihlus was a good man, but hell, Shepard didn't know. He'd been a pain in the ass for the two days the Commander knew him.

The commander pushed himself off the wall and blew out a breath. "Well, looks like we've got some time on our hands. Let's figure out what makes this place one of the wonders of the galaxy."

The ramps took the four out to the lowest level of the Presidium, where broad boulevards looked over the water. "I wonder if it's a sign of favor or insignificance that our embassy is so close to the lake?"

"Insignificance, definitely." Lieutenant Alenko sounded certain.

Shepard raised an eyebrow. "What makes you so sure?"

He shrugged. "I have some friends who live on the Citadel. Property values are steeper the higher you go, when it comes to the Presidium."

"You've been here before, Luitenant Alenko. Sir?" Jenkins was absolutely curious. He was a colonist kid, and the only time he've heard anything outside of 'Eden Prime' was after he left the colony.

"The Citadel, sure." Another shrug. "The Presidium, no. Believe it or not, it's heavily access-controlled."

"It'd be a shame if the cream had to mix with the rabble, huh?" Ashley observed dryly.

"I don't know. This is home to some of the most powerful people in the galaxy. People like that make enemies, and when they fall they do a lot of collateral damage in the process." Alenko was peering up now, at the rows upon rows of balconies clinging like nests to the cylindrical wall.

Williams crossed her arms, her contempt clear. "What, they may be evil little bastards, but since it'd be chaos otherwise, they should be _protected_?"

"Pretty much." He slipped his hands in his pockets.

"Sure is a pretty place, though." Jenkins observed.

The four marines made their way along the street, heading lengthwise down the ring. Every so often they passed a side corridor vanishing into the recesses of the station. There weren't many pedestrians this time of day, and those that were out and about set a leisurely pace. Shepard said, "I'm surprised there are so many humans."

"Makes sense. We're near the Alliance dock." Jenkins tried not to stare as a salarian swathed in robes shuffled by. "Plenty of aliens, too." For some odd reason, he doesn't see them as amphibians but as lizards...

...do they eat flies?

"By the way, I meant to tell you- all three of you- nice job on the ground. I've never had the opportunity to fight alongside a biotic before. I can see why the Alliance goes to such lengths to recruit you."

The signing bonuses for biotic-talented recruits who passed the psychological exams were becoming legendary in the navy. The rates of occurrence were very low to begin with, and not very many of the human biotics were old enough to enlist, much less interested in doing so.

He smiled, a self-effacing gesture. "That isn't why I did it, but thanks all the same."

Shepard then turned his attention to Ashley, "You did great Gunnery Chief. Even after losing your squad, you managed to keep your cool and control your temper. I could tell you right now, how I acted back on Akuze made me look a bit more pathetic than you do."

"Thank commander," Ashly simply said. Which was enough for Shepard.

The commander nod, before turning to Jenkins, "Didn't thought much about you, but you did good. Decryption level of an N7 and disrupting all the demolition charges under just a minute, what other secrets are you holding?"

"N-Nothing much else commander." Jenkins stammered out.

The four started to walk again. "I'd like the chance to practice against you sometime Kaidan," Ashely suddenly began. "I don't know if geth have a turn for biotics or not, but plenty of aliens sure do, and I could use the experience."

"If it's all the same to you, gunnery chief, I'd rather not." His tone was polite, but final. Shepard was surprised. Why not? Apparently Ashley had the same thought because she wasn't letting up. "I'm sure we can find the space."

Jenkins snickered. "I don't like using my abilities against living targets when I can help it. It's playing with fire." Kaidan folded his arms before glaring at Jekins.

Shepard blinked, is he missing something here? "You need the practice, too, lieutenant. It's hard to stay combat-ready any other way. If I were you, I'd want to make certain every tool in my box was sharp."

"Trust me commander," Kaidan exasperatedly tried to explain, "I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to sharpen your tool with someone like me."

"Considering how strong the Luitenant's Singularity was? I'd say listen to him, sir."

"Sounds like you had a first-hand experience." Ashley jabbed. Jenkins, to his credit, scratched his head in somewhat of a sheepish manner. "I...kinda asked Luitenant Alenko to show me a demonstration of his power."

"More like pestered," Kaidan muttered. "I showed him my Warp and Reave, but when I got to the Singularity, it sucked him right in and sent him ten feet into the air before landing hard on the ground."

"It was awesome!" Jenkins defended, "I mean, who else gets to have a chance to joy-ride a Singularity!"

"That's not the point Jenkins." Shepard shook his head, while Ashley listened on with mirth as Kaidan tried to explain the dangers of his powers with no avail.

"Alright, I get it. No biotic spar." Ashely relented, the four Navy officers walked in silence a few minutes.

After awhile, Shepard said, slowly, "We get taught a lot about how to fire a gun, how to hold it and maintain it use it properly. But at first we don't get taught a lot about why to fire- when ordered, that's what we're told. And at first it's enough. Later though, those are the situations that haunt you, in your bunk after a mission when you try to sleep. Those times when you have a choice that _must _be made, and there's nobody there to give an order."

"This is what I'm saying. I've… had too many of those nights." Kaidan murmured, Jenkins expression grew somber, realizing what he had done back on the cargo hold; asking the Luitenant to...

...damn.

Shepard nodded, sympathetic. "Me too. But lieutenant? Sometimes, it was the right choice to discharge my weapon. Sometimes, it was the only choice. And I'm damn glad I knew how to do it without hesitation when the time came."

His brow furrowed, and his expression changed from defensive to more thoughtful. Jenkins hesitantly put his hand on Kaidan's shoulder. "Um, Luitenant? I'm sorry I bothered you about the whole biotic thing. I-I didn't know any better." Kaidan snort a chuckle. "I won't do it again-"

"Don't worry about it, kid." The biotic shook off, but Jenkins wasn't done.

"I know it's not my place to say, but could you think about what the Commander said, maybe? I mean, I wasn't all serious when I asked about the whole show-and-tell biotic thing, but the commander was serious about needing the practice. It seems like everyone out there is better at this biotics stuff than us, and not all of them are friendlies."

Normally, Shepard would have been somewhat miffed at being ignored, especially towards a younger officer; but the way Jenkins was talking to Kaidan, the way the Luitenant was considering what Jenkins was _asking._

"Thanks Jenkins." Jenkins looked like a kid that got his first M-7 Lancer as his face brightened up immediately. "As for your request gunnery chief...I'll think about it."

"That's all I'm asking."

Shepard paused in his step as a light on his omnitool lit up.

Ashley peered over his shoulders. "Is it time?"

"No… that's odd. It's a summons from C-Sec." Shepard's brow furrowed.

"You were the only one who didn't send a report over," Alenko reasoned. "Maybe they to interview you, as evidence."

"Maybe." The explanation was plausible, but it didn't match the feeling in his gut. "I'm going to see what they want. You three will be here?"

"Until they call for us, yeah."

Shepard spotted the sign directing her to C-Sec HQ illuminated against the wall, and was already moving when a uniformed turian stepped out from the corner, "Commander."

"Are you the turian that called for me?" The said turian nodded.

"My name is Garrus Vakarian," the turian said. "I'm the officer at C-Sec assigned to oversee the Saren investigation. I don't have access to all the data- as a spectre most of his work is classified well above my pay grade- but what I have found is troubling, to say the least."

"So you believe us." That was an unexpected surprise.

"Let's say I'm willing to buy your arguments for the moment." His mandibles flared. This turian's face was painted with blue geometric stripes. If Shepard vaguely remembered, that represented an individual's colonial origins, but he couldn't have said which one. "Unfortunately, the executor disagrees with my findings. Saren is a very influential figure on the Citadel. Rebranding him as a traitor is problematic. I've been ordered to close my investigation."

"What, they're going to simply ignore the findings?" Shepard was flabbergasted. "What was the point of involving C-Sec as a neutral body?"

"First lesson of Citadel politics. Nobody is neutral." This was uttered in the tones of a world-class cynic. "Anyway, right now the evidence is inconclusive. The executor fears it will become… more conclusive, if my work continues."

The human commander shook his head. "Why tell me this?"

"Because I think I can trust you." He sat back and picked up his cup, took a sip. "I don't know if you're aware, but you've been under C-Sec investigation for years. We've got a whole directory on you. Nihlus made it clear he wanted an airtight case for your probable spectre candidacy prepared before he involved undertook field tests. From what I've seen, you do the right thing, if sometimes in your own way. I can respect that."

Shepard turned his gaze back to Vakarian. "The Alliance doesn't like that streak in me, you know. They don't appreciate their orders being subject to creative interpretation."

"Neither does the Hierarchy. But the spectres, well, that's rather what they look for. Initiative, sound judgment, a dash of insanity. You were handpicked from literally hundreds of candidates, most of them not human. Take that for what it's worth."

"Huh." Shepard leaned on one of the support barricade. "If Nihlus explained it like that, I might have been more enthused about the position."

That got a laugh. Shepard found himself warming to this C-Sec officer, strange and off regs as the meeting was. "So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to keep looking into Saren. Off-record, obviously. And you have a hearing to get to."

Almost on cue, his omnitool lit up with Anderson's code. "Damn it."

Shepard punched the button and went through thirty seconds of conversation, confirming the Council was ready to receive them. By the time he looked back up, the turian was gone.

* * *

"Oh, my dear! What happened to you?"

"Gunshot." Tali answered, the effects of the fever messing with her voice. Apparently during the scuffle with the assassins, one of them actually did nicked her arm. Was it during when the commander shot the first assassin? Was it the other two assassin's reaction to shoot but missed and shot her? Either way, Stephen caught it quickly, and immediately took her to the med-center.

"I was shot by an..." Tali started stumbling as she walked closer, but she was caught by the soldier before she fell to the floor.

"Easy there," Stephen murmured, carefully putting his hand away from the shot.

"We need to patch you up. There's no telling what contaminants could've gotten into your suit." The doctor helped Stephen bringing Tali over to an operating table, having her lay down so she could get a better look at her arm.

"She'll be alright, doctor?"

"I'll need to disinfect this before I can use the medigel." The accented doctor explained, "Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but she's a Quarian. There's no telling what could happen with her immune systems the way they are."

"Understood doctor," Stephen quickly made his way to the med-station. "I'll get the med-gel, focus on getting her hygenic."

"How do you two know so much about..." Tali mumbled as she felt the doctor rub dextro- amino antiseptic on her arm. She had also unsealed the section seals in order to work on the damage somehow.

"I've been trained on handling medical care on numerous species. Trust me. I know what I'm doing." The smile on her face was enough to convince Tali she was in good hands.

"Thank you, miss..."

"Dr. Michel." The doctor replied. "And you are?"

"My name's Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

"Well, can you tell me what happened? Who shot you?"

"Some assassins were chasing me. I don't know when it happened but one of them shot my arm; Stephen, the beef-cake over there, killed them. After which, he helped me get here." There was a possibility Tali was also hallucinating from the fever, but she was pretty darn sure that she didn't mention him about being a beef-cake.

...right?

"...I'm a beef-cake?"

Oh _bosh'tet_.

"What were you doing there?" Dr. Michel asked curiously.

"We can't say." Tali answered, still embarrassed at the whole beef-cake thing. "It's too sensitive to get you any more involved in this."

"Sounds like you've got a secret someone doesn't want getting out."

"And I need to hand this secret over to someone who can use it." Then she needed to find someone in the Alliance to pass. It was definitely a long day for her.

"Perhaps we can get you in contact with Fist. He's an agent for the Shadow Broker. He could help you-"

"Flawless plan," Stephen interjected "Just one problem, the assassins that were sent to take care of her were sent by Fist himself."

"What?" Dr. Michel looked shocked.

"From what I understand, Fist lied to Tali. Said that the Shadow Broker would meet up with her personally." Stephen shrugged. "From there, the rest was history."

"Fist would- why would he..."

"We can talk about this later doctor," Stephen stopped her as he motioned over to Tali, "I think you have a patient to treat?"

"O-Oh yes." She placed a patch onto her suit where the gunshot went through. "There. We've taken care of one problem for you. Your suit is patched up and your wound has been cleaned and healed." She went to a cabinet and pulled out a long, narrow tube of some kind. "This will also help with your fever. It's some sterilized medicine that can help die the fever down." She handed the rod to Tali, and she inserted it through her emergency induction port, drinking the miracle liquid dry.

"A straw." Stephen simply said as Tali finished up her little drink. "Your EIP is a straw?"

"It's not a straw, it's-"

"It's a bendy-straw." Stephen corrected himself, Tali rolled her eyes behind her mask.

"How much do I owe you?" The Quarian asked, reaching for her satchel to pull out her credits, but Stephen stopped her. "Don't worry, it's on me."

"W-what?"

"You have something that's making one of the Shadow Broker agents go AWOL, that's enough for someone like me to be interested in; besides..." He activated his omni-tool. "...I can't let a cute girl like you pay for something like this."

"C-Cute?" she repeated shellshocked, but Stephen's attention was already on Dr. Michel. "So how much for the-" Before the soldier could finish, the doctor shook her head.

"That won't be necessary. The medicine alone costs one thousand credits, and it looks like you two will be needing as much money as you can."

"Are you sure?" Tali asked.

"Absolutely. Especially if Fist is your enemy." Tali got off the table, feeling a little better because of the miracle medicine. "I would ask for you to stay here, but if Fist really betrayed the Shadow Broker..."

"Get down!" Suddenly Stephen pushed the two down as five heavily armed men enter Dr. Michel's office before opening fire.

"Let's make this easy, doctor! You have someone we want, so we can do this the easy way or the hard way."

"Fist sent you?" Stephen's voiced out. "If so, I'll give you one chance to walk away right now."

"Or else what?" one of them taunted. Tali noticed that the gentle expression that was on Stephen's face vanished in an instant. A battle-hardened masked over his calm features as he opened up his omni-tool.

"I'll kill you." That antagonized the five as the leader quickly began to shout out orders to kill everyone in the room.

"Fire fight in a clinic. Diameter of the room: 22x22. Left-Right." He muttered, the mercs letting loose rain of bullets on them; luckily the cover was enough to protect the three. "Recommendation, Typhoon." Stephen coldly finished as he pulled his assault rifle from his right shoulder.

Although not normally a gun enthusiast, Tali have seen plenty of guns to know what was different about each gun. For example, no matter the name, style, color, or fire power that the gun has, all of them have similar design on them.

This gun blew that idea out of the water. From how it looks like, Tali assumes it's an assault rifle; but it wasn't any assault rifle she had seen in her life. For one the assault rifle had a face shield, something which Tali thought was ingenious in general. It was rather a simple design, but the idea to protect the shooter from headshots was just pure innovation. Not only that but one glance and the Quarian could tell that there was a high-tech kinetic reducer to fight the recoil and muzzle climb.

The N7 logo was painted on the side. Alliance have some the best toys in the galaxies, and just from one look at the gun...

"Cry Ammo..." Stephen modulated the gun as the side of the gun popped an image of an ammo in front of a snowflake of some kind, "...set." Pulling himself out of the cover he aimed at the one on the far left...

"There! Kill him-"

...and fired.

Bratatatatatatatatatata!

Tali couldn't believe how fast the fire rate of the gun was, and- wait...what are those? Tali glanced down to see some sort of...clipping? The quarian almost reached out for it, only to stop when she felt immense heat radiating off of the clip. Thermal clipping? Those style of guns are only used by-

"Oh my god..." Tali's thought was cut off with Dr. Michel's murmur. She slowly peaked out of the corner of the cover, and gasped. The cryo ammo did more than just freeze them.

It annihilated them.

With the exception of one merc sitting on his butt to the right corner, there was not one spec of evidence that would trace the other four mercs ever being here. On the ground are shards of ice, shattered across the floor.

"Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit." the last merc whispered frantically, pants soiled, as Stephen calmly put away his rifle. Picking up his helmet from the side, the soldier placed it on as he leisurely strolled to the terrified merc.

He also picked up one of the grenade, that one of the mercs carried, off the ground.

"Incendiary." Tossing it up and down with one hand, the two women winced as ice crunched underneath his boots. Not carrying about the urine puddle, Stephen grabed the merc by the collar, hauling him to his feet, turning and walking towards the window; dragging the panic-stricken man with him.

"The fuck are you doing?!" the merc demanded, feet dragging, grabbing at Stephen's wrist, eyes going wide as realization hits him, "Oh shit! Oh shit! Don't do this! Oh god! Don't do this, man! _Don't do this-_"

Tali and Michel gasped as Stephen thrusts out his arm, holding the merc over the edge, over the drop two stories below. Panicked begging and pleading turns to a panicked scream, as the merc held onto Stephen's wrist in a death grip. With clear conviction, and extreme callousness, Stephen simply said one word, still tossing the grenade-disk with one hand.

"Talk."

With just one word, the merc literally spilt everything out. From the numbers of mercs and hitman hired for this mission to the embarrassing secrets. Tali couldn't blame him. His friends were just demolished by this juggernaut; the mask was definitely not helping the situation. If in his place, she would have done the same.

Of course, thanks to her suit filtration, there wouldn't be any trace of her actually pissing herself in his place; but still, it gets the message across.

"-all we know is that the Quarian over there has some info that our boss doesn't want to get out! H-He said something about Saren! That's all I know! I swear! _Please! Just let me go!_"

Stephen growls, "Let you go?"

"**_Please_**!" Tali wanted to tell Stephen to let the merc go. Sure he was sent here to kill them, but this was just overkill. The man clearly didn't want to do this job anymore...

...and he did say please.

"Fine..." The three sighed in relief-

"...though, poor choice of words." Shoving the grenade onto his chest, the soldier let go. Dr. Michel and Tali horrifiedly watched as the man screamed to his death-

BOOOM

Flames erupted from below as the denizens of the wards screamed and panicked. The fire alarm echoing outside as he listened to some of the people calling for C-Sec. The sprinklers were dosing off the flames as the best they could, but it wouldn't matter in the end. Let them come, the incendiary upgrade on the grenade will burn any evidence behind. Thanks to the sprinklers, it'll be even harder from them; and even they could get any samples from washed-up ashes, it wouldn't do them any good by then.

Fist would be dead before they could even trace anything back to him.

The scent of charred fleshed entered into her olfaction port as Tali stared at the soldier, flabbergasted. "S-Stephen, h-how could you? H-He told you everything, and yet you threw him. He begged, a-and you gave your word!"

"Thats right Tali," Stephen agreed easily as he pulled the mask off, the scars somewhat visible even with his back turned. "I gave him my word. **I let him go**."

Coldness. It was that very same coldness that saved her back in the alley. That very same coldness that made it easy for someone like Stephen to just kill those three assassins without a second thought. That very same coldness that made it easy for him to kill off those assassins.

"...monster." Tali whispered.

Stephen didn't react. The ruthless soldier turned his face around, looking towards Dr. Michel. "Don't worry. No matter how hard C-Sec tries, they won't be able to trace anything back here." Stephen didn't give her time to respond back as he continued on, "However, there's no doubt that Fist is going to send his men here again, so I'm going to ask you to come with me."

"But my clinic-"

"Won't be touched; this whole side of the building will be a crime scene; they'll want to find out which building the merc fell off. You'll be fine." With that Stephen walked towards the door.

"I'll drop you off at the Citadel Tower. If Saren is really involved with this, then the council will want to hear about this."

Tali didn't move an inch.

"I did want to spare him." The quarian looked up, "But if I did, he'll run back to Fist; and if he spills everything to Fist, he'll just send in more men."

"Wouldn't Fist still send them here if he finds out that his men haven't reported back?"

"He will." He turns to Dr. Michel. "Which is why we're bringing the doctor with us." Tali shook her head. "I can't believe you. How can you not feel anything about this?"

That made him pause.

"...I do." Tali blinked.

"I do feel for the man. If there was any chance to spare him I would have. But there wasn't. So I had to kill him." Stephen sighed as he stepped out. "Besides, Fist would have probably killed him for failing anyways."

The worst part about this whole ordeal was that Tali found herself agreeing with it.

* * *

Shepard's three other marines apparently got the message, because he found all three of them waiting near the elevator up the Presidium tower. "We should head up."

"Right," Jenkins said, clearly distracted by a very strange-looking alien. It was busily repairing a terminal along the boulevard. The alien crouched on four insectile legs, the head snaking up from the bulbous body crowned with two wide, black eyes. Delicate hands manipulated the machinery with the ease of a master, but there was something off about the creature, to Shepard's sensibilities, like nobody was home despite the obvious intellect.

"The hell is that?" the commander couldn't help but to ask.

"That asari VI called it a 'keeper' when Jenkins accidentally brushed up on the thing." Ashley answered immediately, "From what the VI said, they're critical to station operations and interfering with them results in strict penalties."

"I've heard of them, but I've never seen one up this close," Alenko added. "Textbooks writes that they're usually burrowed into parts of the station even the Council can't access. The asari say the keepers were already here when they found the station thousands of years ago. They could date all the way back to the Protheans themselves."

"No offense sir," Jenkins continued to observe the Keeper. "but for 50,000 year old aliens, I was kind of hoping for them to be some sort of head-honcho or something; but for most part, they're pretty ignorant and dumb."

_**Not**_**_ true_.**

That made Jenkins jump.

"Corporal?" Shepard looked towards the rookie's direction. The other two marines watched as Jenkins frantically looked from left to right. "Who said that?"

"Who?"

_**He** **listens.**_

"That!" Jenkins point out. The creature kept at its work, appearing oblivious to the conversation. "Jenkins you're not really making any sense."

"Commander! I swear to you, I'm hearing someone talking right now-"

_**Too annoying.** _

"-and right now it's saying that I'm too annoying!"

Shepard wasn't easily unnerved, but with what happened to Jenkins on Eden Prime, and from what Chakwas diagnosed back on the Normandy, what Jenkins was saying was kind of giving him goosebumps.

Not only that but even as the creature was, unblinking, staring into the depths of the terminal, he could have sworn that for an instant the creature was observing the four, just for an instant.

"Jenkins." Shepard snapped. The corporal turned attention to his commanding officer before calming down. "S-Sorry, it's just...nerves I'm going to guess." He muttered out an apology.

_**So pathetic.**_

He chose to ignore that one.

"Are they self-aware?" From how the voice could be coming from the Keeper, Jenkins wasn't all too sure now.

"Not as far as anyone can tell," he trended carefully.

_**We are.**_

"They give me the creeps." Williams shuddered.

_**How lovely.**_

Alenko flushed. "I just find them interesting, that's all."

_**How cute.**_

"I get the impression there's very little you don't find interesting, lieutenant," Shepard observed, his mouth quirking at the corner.

**_How gay._**

How the hell does the Keeper even know the word gay?

"Well, why join up if you're not interested in seeing the galaxy, right? There's so much out there we don't know anything about."

"Oh, I don't know, sir." Williams' sarcasm was plain. "Tradition, loyalty, protecting humanity…"

_**Protecting primitives?**_

Shepard shut it down before it could turn into an argument. "Enough. The captain's waiting on us."

**_Leaves. Finally._**

Jenkins shook his head as the four reached to the elevator, and submitted to a VI scan before being permitted to ascend to the council chamber at the highest level of the presidium tower. The VI seemed startled that the four humans cleared its security protocols, especially towards Jenkins who was read "UNKNOWN" for the first few seconds, if you could ascribe an emotion to a VI. Apparently the audience Udina wrangled for their cause was unusual.

They rode up in a tense silence.

"So..." Jenkins began, "Whose bright idea was it to build slow-ass elevators?" Realizing that he was being slightly informal he quickly added in "sir" at the end.

"Relax Jenkins, and for you information the Asari designed them." Kaidan chuckled. Jenkins just eyed the Luitenant curiously, not understanding. "Asari live for around a thousand years. Get it?" Kaidan expanded.

"Oh..." and that was the end of that.

After a small eternity, the doors opened onto an enormous, vaulting chamber, filled with the murmur of fountains and hushed conversations. Shepard was startled by how dark it was, almost too dim to see clearly, and wondered if asari vision was tuned to a different part of the spectrum than human eyes. It lent the room an ominous feel.

Nonetheless, trees, bushes, and even a smattering of flowers flourished in the weak light. Through the breaks in the canopy, Shepard could see balconies and alcoves clinging to the walls above. The path they followed up to the audience chamber proper wound through the gardens, with benches cleverly positioned every so often along the way to allow for respite and impromptu meetings among the various dignitaries of the Citadel.

"I like it," Jenkins said cheerfully, as they passed by a fountain. "It's very soothing up here. Peaceful."

"Right now, sure, but check out these stairs corporal," Williams countered. "These are great defensive positions. Anyone planning to storm the Council is in for a rough time."

Kaidan glanced at her. "I don't know who would be foolish enough to try. They've have to get through the Citadel defenses first, and I don't think anyone's ever made it past."

She nodded, acknowledging the point.

Shepard shook his head. "It's pretty, but also unnecessary. Almost like they're trying to impress or intimidate the hell out of anyone long before they meet the actual members of the Council."

At last, the final staircase came into view, with Captain Anderson pacing restlessly before it.

"You're late," he said, without preamble. "The ambassador's already with the Council. Come on."

They hurried after him. Udina's strident voice reached them long before they got to the top of the stair. "This *wuff* cannot allow the attack against *wuff* Prime, against *hoooooowl*, to stand unopposed and *pant pant*!"

...and there's the doggy language once more. It's only omitting part of the conversation, but still annoying to hear.

"You do not instruct this Council, Ambassador Udina." Tevos' lips thinned into a sharp line. Pretty hot looking- and where the hell did that came out of? Jenkins shook his head. "As you have been reminded twice today already."

Udina calmed himself, but lost no resolve. "You have the *bark bark* sitting before you. Saren is *wuff* of this most heinous *doggy yawn*. He is sworn to protect the galaxy, yet he brings an *bark bark wuff* AI army down upon our very *arwuff*?"

The ambassador was pointing now, to emphasize his point, up to a high platform at the Council's right. Shepard followed his finger and, with a sinking heart, saw a larger-than-life holocomm of Saren Arterius glaring down at the assembly. Her eyes met Anderson's briefly. Clearly, this was unanticipated.

"The *tweet tweet* findings were inconclusive." Great now the turian councilor was chirping like a bird. Jenkins sighed, his hand resting on the rails. Seriously what the hell is wrong with-

**"-how is it that we haven't noticed sooner!?" Traitors within our ranks!?" **

...what the hell is that?

**"The Reapers are indoctrinating our own people! They're using our doctrine against us!"**

Jenkins rapidly blinked as he saw something...unnatural. The councilor, Udina, Anderson, Shepard, everyone was gone. Replaced by...who were those two? Better question is, what the hell were the people around them- wait, wasn't that the ship back on Eden Prime?

**"Colonies back in the Sol System have gone silent. The Reaper forces are now moving into the Exodus Cluster."**

It design was different but the similarities are there- holy hell, how many of them are there? The image of the geth dreadnought- no, the Reaper, vanished as the Galatic Map emerged. Jenkins gasped when he saw red flood nearly 4/5th of the map.

**"Our empire...our glorious empire...destroyed by the Reapers."**

Jenkins tried to focus in on one of them, then to the next. All of them have two pairs of eyes. The corporal also noticed how the one kneeling next to him, where it was standing next to the Commander, had three pairs of nostrils. One thing that stucked out, of all the things about them, were their heads. Their heads were covered in a thick, layered carapace that gives them a distinctive shape.

The skin surrounding the head was pale blue-gray, mottled with muted yellow spots. Jenkins watched as the alien that was kneeling before stood up slowly. It's hands each have three fingers, and it's feet each have two widely-spaced toes.

**"We cannot retreat..."**

It was like watching a warped tape. It's playing in different scenes. None of it was making any sense. Another scratch to a scene. This time he saw a pile of bodies on the side as one of them placed a hand on another's shoulder.

**"...we will rise a million strong."**

"Jenkins."

**"We will not forget...we will fight off the Reapers."**

"Jenkins!"

**"For the Prothean Empire!"**

...Holy shit.

"Jenkins!" The corporal vision was finally clear as he stared into the eyes of David Anderson. Huh, when did he fell to the ground? Jenkins blinked as the world resolved around him. No destroyed podeum. No burning buildings.

No dead bodies.

Shaking, and weakly, the corporal got off the ground and looked up to his left. "Saren?" he murmured, confused and incredulous of what the hell was going on around him.

"You see," the Spectre began dismissively. "This is just another feeble effort by the Alliance," the turian glared pointedly at Captain Anderson, "to discredit me. Primitives, all of you. Humanity's not ready to join the Council. You're not even ready to join the spectres."

Udina slammed his hand on the banister. "That's not his decision!"

"The matter of Shepard's induction to the ranks of the spectres is not material to this hearing," the asari councilor replied mildly. "Captain, I'm sure you can appreciate that we cannot admit testimony of this nature into these proceedings."

"W-What is she talking about?" Jenkins couldn't help but to ask.

"We were going to use the vision you saw on Eden Prime as one of our evidences ." Kaidan began, "During which, you suddenly spazzed on us for a second." He brought out a cloth from his coat. "You got cold sweat on you."

...he was sweating?

"Am I expected to defend myself against _dreams_, now?" Saren laughed, but there was no humor in it. His beady eyes bore through Jenkins, the sheer magnitude of his hatred making the Corporals skin crawl.

"This wasn't a fever dream. This is data from the Prothean beacon, imprinted upon the commander's mind. It was a warning. We would be wise to heed it."

"A warning." Sparatus was dubious. "Against what?"

Jenkins opened his mouth, and closed it. Where the hell could he even begin? Here? Or the ones on Eden Prime? Should he talk about the horrifying things the Reapers did to the race? Should he even tell them about how the Protheans fell in just matter of months?

"Jenkins," Ashley barked, "Not to rush you, but you need to tell the councilors on what you saw." The corporal tiredly looked towards the Gunnery Chief. Hesitantly, the soldier nodded before turning his attention back on the councilors.

"...it wasn't just on Eden Prime. I saw another vision here."

Saren made a kind of dismissive noise, shaking his head. "Another vision?"

"What did you see?" Tevos wasn't all too convinced either, but anything that Jenkins saw from the beacon was worth hearing for a few minutes that is.

"The one I saw here...it was the Protheans, they were talking about a race of inorganic, synthetic things called the Reapers."

"A...Reaper?" The salarian councilors questioned. Testing the word as if he was tasting a brand new wine. "And what exactly is a Reaper?" Jenkins didn't answer, but instead he turned to Shepard.

"Commander, remember that geth-dreadnought we saw back on Eden Prime?" The three marines' eyes widened.

"Wait. That was a Reaper?" Ashley demanded with disbelief. Oddly enough, Saren was rather quiet while Jenkins was explaining about his vision.

"Wait, you said Reapers. There's more?" Jenkins nodded, "From what I heard, the numbers were more than enough to invaded the Sol System and wipe out every single Prothean colonies there. From there, I watched as one of them said that their next destination was the Exodus Cluster."

"The Exodus Cluster? But that's where-"

"-that's where Eden Prime was." He shivered, "It didn't make any sense at first, but after watching the vision here...it was starting to make some sense. The visions I saw on Eden Prime..."

"...were the last moments of the Protheans." The audiences that gathered to watch the hearing suddenly chattered in a frenzy as the three councilor tried to bring order.

"As interesting as this 'vision' is." Saren air quoted the word vision. "This has nothing to do with me. A complete waste of my-"

"-The vision back on Eden Prime showed me Protheans...fighting amongst each other."

"They were what?" Apparently Saren was not expecting that.

"They didn't even look like Protheans - the ones that the good Protheans were fighting." Jenkins felt somewhat silly for saying "good Protheans" but it was the only way to differentiate them. "The ones that the good guys we're fighting, they almost looked like the Husks we fought back on Eden Prime. Only Prothean." Jenkins wiped his brows, feeling more sweat pouring from his face.

"Nearly a million Prothean warriors and their commander, Javik, were stored in cryogenic lifepods in a bunker facility on Eden Prime." That caught everyone's attention. "Javik's mission was to lead his warriors in rebuilding the Prothean Empire once the Reaper threat passed. But by then it was too late. The Reapers found them, they breached their defenses and..."

**"A few minutes!"** Suddenly Jenkins eyes began to dilate, his voice contorted as his voice hauntingly echoed in the towers.

"Corporal Jenkins?" Anderson questioned, but Jenkins was staring off into the abyss. His face contorted with undeniable rage. Even Saren flinched at the sight as the human pointed his finger in front of him. At first it appeared he was pointing at the asari Councilor, but soon he points over to the right **"There are pods online, Victory! Those soldiers are still alive! We can not leave them behind!"**

"What the hell is going on?" Sparatus brusquely asked, but received no answer as Jenkins expression was literally torn. **"Damn you..." **Jenkins continued with dismay. His eyes were rapidly moving from left to right for a few minutes before it slowly closed.

**"...what is left of it. The neutron bombardment may have been a success, but it nevertheless extinguished another third of our people..."**

"They resorted to Neutron Bombing?" Valern harshly whispered, eyes widened with shock. "The Protheans were _that_ desperate?"

"Neutron Bombing?" Ashley couldn't help but to ask, as Anderson looked rather grim when those two words came from Jenkins' mouth. "Think of the Hydrogen Bomb back in 1950's. It's pretty much the same with just more radiation." Kaidan explained, paling at the Protheans fate.

"Is this the vision Jenkins saw back on Eden Prime?" Anderson muttered, watching as Jenkins' brows furrowed. **"A few hundred people. How am I suppose to build an Empire with that?"**

"I have absolutely no idea," Shepard answered back, "Chakwas mentioned about vivid dreams that Jenkins was experiencing during our extraction-"

**"Clarify."** Shepard was cut off as Jenkins' eyes snapped open once more, confusion masked over the corporal before silence reigned over. "Jenkins?" Kaidan nervously began, "What's going on-"

Everyone jumped, including Saren, when Jenkins suddenly slammed his hands onto the rails. **"DO**** NOT SHUT OFF THOSE PODS! I NEED THE FEW THAT ARE LEFT TO REBUILD THE PROTHEAN EMPIRE! I NEED THE FEW THAT ARE LEFT TO WARN THE OTHER RACES OF THE** **REAPERS!"**

Jenkins, now snarling, was pounding on the railing; blind desperation filled his voice. **"VICTORY, YOU DAMN VI, DO NOT TURN OFF THOSE PODS! DO NOT PRIORITIZE ME OVER OUR REMAINING RACE!" **

"Spirits, the VI...?" no one wanted to finish that question, as every single audience in the tower stared at the sight. A rogue VI was one thing, but for a VI to massacre...

Jenkins slumped onto the ground, tears streaming as he tiredly stared up at the ceiling. His voice now hoarse and partially broken, he quietly whispered. **"...Be the voice of our coming empire? I will be more than that..."**

...before falling onto the ground once more. The echo of flesh meeting metal sent shivers down everyone's back.

"...I think we'll need an intermission." Udina finally broke the silence, "Corporal Jenkins is unwell at the moment, please give us this time to bring him to the hospital." Tevos snapped out of her shock as she looked over to Valern then to Sparatus. The other two councilor nodded before the asari slowly nodded her own.

"We'll give you two hours."

* * *

Stephen Shepard turned the vid off, the transit humming as he stared at the dark screen dumbfounded. Jenkins was still alive, and he was the one that got the beacon? The vision Jenkins saw weren't the vision he saw back on Eden Prime?

"Stephen," Tali began, Dr. Michel next to her. "Are you alright?"

"...no." the Commander finally responded. Staring morosely at the blank screen. "...things just got a hell of a lot more complicated for me."


End file.
